Latham & Watkins LLP

Damara Chambers, a leading CFIUS and trade controls lawyer, advises clients on cross-border investment, international trade, and national security matters. She co-leads Latham’s CFIUS & US National Security Practice.

Damara advises foreign and domestic clients on complex US national security regulatory issues involving:

• • Reviews conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
  • Facility security clearances and the mitigation of foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI)
  • US export controls
  • US economic sanctions

Damara has extensive experience representing clients in all aspects of national security reviews before CFIUS. She has represented clients in a variety of landmark CFIUS matters and brings experience in negotiating some of the most significant national security agreements with the US government.

In her national security practice, Damara also counsels clients on obtaining facility security clearances, adjudicating FOCI, and negotiating FOCI mitigation agreements with the Department of Defense’s Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), the Department of Energy, and other cognizant security agencies under applicable national industrial security regulations. She also advises clients regarding negotiating, implementing, and complying with various types FOCI mitigation instruments.

In her export controls and sanctions practice, Damara advises companies on:

• • Compliance with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and nuclear export controls administered by the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
  • Economic sanctions administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
  • Import and licensing requirements imposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)

She also frequently advises on export control and economic sanctions issues in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.

Damara frequently speaks and writes on CFIUS and trade controls topics.

Damara also represents clients in federal court litigation and maintains an active pro bono practice. Her work includes advising clients in victim compensation, interpleader actions, and immigration matters.

Damara has earned widespread recognition for both her commercial and pro bono work. She has consistently been ranked in Chambers USA and Chambers Global for her work on CFIUS and FOCI matters. Her honors also include being named a Top Advisor by Foreign Investment Watch in 2020 - 2022 and a 2015 Pro Bono Publico Award honoree by the Legal Aid Society.

Damara began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Juan R. Torruella on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Prior to entering the practice of law, Damara served as a US Navy Officer in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. She has held other positions within the federal government as well, including Special Assistant to the Secretary of Energy and Legislative Fellow with the US Senate Committee on Finance.

Damara currently serves as a member of Latham ’ s Women Enriching Business (WEB) Committee, which promotes women in business both inside and outside the firm.