TEL:+1 202.955.8266
FAX:+1 202.831.6014
1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036-5306 USA
Audi Syarief is a Senior Associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the firm’s International Trade Practice Group.
He advises clients on U.S. economic sanctions and embargoes, export controls, and national security reviews. Audi has extensive experience in assessing civil and criminal enforcement risk, conducting internal investigations, strengthening trade compliance programs, and developing restricted-party screening protocols. He routinely advocates before OFAC, BIS, DDTC, and CFIUS, and has secured licenses and approvals, filed voluntary self-disclosures, responded to administrative subpoenas, and engaged in various other agency-engagement efforts to further client interests. Audi also regularly conducts due diligence reviews of corporate transactions from an international trade perspective, and advises on trade-related issues raised in civil litigation and arbitration matters.
While Audi represents clients across economic sectors on various issue sets, he is particularly well-versed in the application of sanctions authorizations relating to telecommunications, information, and the internet (e.g., the Berman Amendment, General License D-2), and has helped numerous companies understand and apply these authorizations.
He maintains an active pro bono practice, representing non-profit clients on trade matters and securing asylum for clients from El Salvador and Indonesia. From 2016 through 2021, he was named each year to the Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll maintained by the D.C. Access To Justice Commission. In his spare time, he teaches a class on sanctions and export controls at Georgetown Law, and regularly publishes and speaks on these topics. Audi serves as the Chair of the Export Controls, Sanctions, and Anticorruption Subcommittee of the IBA’s International Commerce and Distribution Committee. He also advises Law360 on their international trade coverage as a member of the publication’s advisory board.
Informing his international trade practice is his extensive prior work on civil litigation, white collar criminal defense, and government contract matters. Audi has litigated Helms-Burton Act cases, and advised on potential recovery and/or risks under the statute. He has helped secure the termination of a four-year SEC accounting fraud investigation of a global financial institution. He was also instrumental in negotiating with DOE a successful closeout of an energy company’s multi-million dollar cooperative agreement.
Audi previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Timothy J. Kelly of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia, where he was an editor of the Virginia Law Review. Audi earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Rutgers University. At Rutgers, and in collaboration with the Institute for Domestic and International Affairs (IDIA), he organized Model United Nations conferences and other educational initiatives for high school students. He now serves on IDIA’s board of directors, and on the board of the Rutgers Alumni Association.
Appointments
Select Speaker Engagements
Select Coauthored Publications
University of Virginia - 2015 Juris Doctor
Rutgers University - 2011 Bachelor of Arts
District of Columbia Bar