Laura Black > Akin > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile
Akin Offices
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Robert S. Strauss Tower
2001 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006-1037
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
United States
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Laura Black
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Work Department
Senior Counsel, International Trade
Position
Laura advises clients, including multinationals, investment funds and start-ups, on investment screening within a broader national security context and represents them in all stages of CFIUS filings. She also provides strategic guidance and planning on international investment risks, multijurisdictional reviews of transactions, and emerging policy issues involving the regulation of outbound investment.
Laura has 25 years of experience in the private and public sectors. She recently joined the firm after serving for 15 years at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, most recently as the Director of Policy and International Relations in CFIUS’ Office of Investment Security. In this role, she was the chief drafter of the regulations implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA), the first expansion of CFIUS’s authority in three decades, and spearheaded U.S. government engagement with dozens of foreign governments, including with countries in Europe, Asia, the Western Hemisphere and the Middle East. Prior to entering public service, Laura was a corporate lawyer in the Washington, D.C. and Brussels, Belgium offices of another leading international firm with a practice focused on cross-border transactions. She is unique among CFIUS practitioners, combining a deep understanding of deal dynamics, regulatory and policy issues across jurisdictions, and an insider’s understanding of CFIUS.
To learn more about Ms. Black, please visit his/her profile here: https://www.akingump.com/en/lawyers-advisors/laura-black
Education
D., Harvard Law School, cum laude, 1999
Ec., Bucknell University, summa cum laude, 1996
Lawyer Rankings
United States > International trade > CFIUS
Akin houses an active CFIUS practice, which is underpinned by the wider firm’s strengths in the government relations, energy, defense and infrastructure areas. The Washington-DC based group is led by Christian Davis, whose broad international trade focus spans CFIUS, customs laws, and export controls and economic sanctions. Sources also highlight senior counsel Laura Black for her background at the USDT, where she served as Director of Policy and International Relations for CFIUS. Counsel Katherine Padgett also brings to bear significant government-side experience gained during a former stint as an attorney for CFIUS at the State Department.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Government > Government relations
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- International trade > Trade remedies and trade policy
Firm Rankings
- Investment fund formation and management > Alternative/hedge funds
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Industry focus > Education
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Industry focus > Native American law
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Government > Government contracts
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: middle-market (Up to $500m)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International trade > CFIUS
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions)
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Finance > Project finance
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Industry focus > Sport
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism