David H. Lim
Biography
Overview
David Lim is a partner in the Firm's Global International Trade Practice, where he represents clients regarding economic sanctions, export controls and national security matters, and brings with him a plethora of experience related to investigating and prosecuting criminal and civil matters in federal and state courts.
Before joining White & Case, David served at the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for more than eight years. During that time, David served in multiple senior roles, most recently as the Co-Director for Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the US imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prior to that, David was the inaugural National Coordinator of the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, a joint venture between the DOJ and Department of Commerce to leverage criminal and administrative enforcement tools to disrupt the unlawful theft and export of sensitive US technology, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Before joining the DOJ's National Security Division, David served as Senior Counsel in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, where he advised on strategic issues related to national security and white-collar criminal investigations.
Prior to these roles, David was a Trial Attorney in the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the DOJ’s National Security Division, where he investigated and prosecuted complex and cross-border federal crimes related to national security, including economic sanctions, export control, espionage, and trade secret theft. David also briefly served as the Acting Deputy Chief for Export Control and Sanctions, and oversaw all federal criminal cases involving export controls and sanctions nationwide.
Preceding David’s tenure at the DOJ, he was an Assistant District Attorney for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, where he investigated and prosecuted felony offenses, including charges of attempted murder, economic crimes, and violations of the Uniform Firearms Act.
David has extensive experience collaborating with US and foreign regulators on multijurisdictional investigations, including the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC), the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the UK National Crime Agency.
David is also well versed in matters involving questions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), among others.
David earned his bachelor's degree from Boston University and his JD from Syracuse University, where he was the Senior Editor of the Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce, and acted as Lead Advocate to the Syracuse National Trial Team.
Experience
- United States v. Huawei Tech. Co., Ltd., et al.: Ongoing criminal investigation into a Chinese telecommunications conglomerate for violating US economic sanctions and efforts to misappropriate US intellectual property, including trade secret information and copyrighted works*
- United States v. Soong: Criminal prosecution of an individual for the unlawful export of sensitive aeronautics software to an entity on the Commerce Department's Entity List, resulting in a guilty plea and a denial of export privileges*
- United States v. Airbus SE: Multinational investigation into violations of the FCPA, AECA and ITAR, resulting in the largest global foreign bribery resolution at the time and a Consent Agreement with the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls*
- United States v. All Petroleum-Prod. Cargo Aboard the Bella, et al.: Successful civil forfeiture action resulting in the forfeiture of more than one million barrels of sanctioned Iranian petroleum product*
*Matters prior to joining White & Case
"Enforcement, Asset Seizures and Penalties: Cross-Agency Priorities, Coordination and Trends," April 30, 2024, American Conference Institute's Conference on Economic Sanctions Enforcement and Compliance, Washington, DC
"Keeping Up with Russian Sanctions: Unravelling Key Developments and New, Wide-Reaching Russia Sanctions Impacting the Insurance Industry," February 13, 2024, American Conference Institute's 14th Annual AML & OFAC Compliance Forum for the Insurance Industry, New York, NY
"Combatting Kleptocracy – International Experiences," December 4, 2023, Royal United Services Institute's Serious and Organised Crime Conference, London, UK
"White Collar Crime Town Hall – DOJ's White Collar Enforcement Priorities in the Upcoming Year," November 2, 2023, American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section's Sixteenth Annual Fall Institute, Washington, DC
"Enforcement Landscape Update," October 23, 2023, Society for International Affairs' 2023 Fall Advanced Conference – A New Era of Trade Compliance, Washington, DC
"Regulation Station: Latest Developments in US Enforcement and Steps Towards Global Cooperation," October 13, 2023, Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists, New York, NY
"Building Common Ground: Transatlantic Approaches to Economic Statecraft," September 22, 2023, Atlantic Council and Atlantik-Brücke's Transatlantic Forum on Geoeconomics, Berlin, Germany
"Proliferation Financing - Countering the Evasion of Sanctions and Export Controls," September 7, 2023, The Consortium, LLC's Academy of Learning: Countering Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing, Washington, DC
National Foreign Trade Council, June 28, 2023, Washington, DC
Forum on Sanctions and AML Compliance, June 14, 2023, Cambridge Forums, Leesburg, VA
"Combatting Illicit Diversion," June 7, 2023, Semiconductor Industry Association's Spring 2023 Export Control Conference, Washington, DC
"In Hot Pursuit of Sanctions Evaders: Cracking Down on Russia's Global Network," May 18, 2023, Atlantic Council, Washington DC
"The Disruptive Technology Strike Force: A New Era in Export Enforcement," April 28, 2023, MA Small Business Development Center Network, Boston, MA
"Considerations When Operating in an Evolving Geopolitical Environment," May 16, 2023, Compliance Week National, Washington, DC
"DOJ's New FCPA: Sanctions and Export Control Enforcement," May 4, 2023, Boston Bar Association's White Collar Crime Conference, Boston, MA
"USG Joint Enforcement and Compliance Activities," May 9, 2023, Society for International Affairs' Spring Conference: Global Trade Technology Controls in a New Era of Power Competition (virtual)
Georgetown University Law Center, April 11, 2023, Washington, DC
"Russia – Sanctions, Kleptocracy, Illicit Finance," February 27, 2023, UK-US Public-Private Banking Dialogue on Illicit Finance (virtual)
National Council on International Trade Development, January 11, 2023, Washington, DC
"The Enforcement Environment: Perspectives from the Authorities," December 16, 2022, Practising Law Institute's Coping with US Export Controls and Sanctions, Washington, DC
"Starving the Kleptocratic Kremlin to Rebuild Ukraine," December 9, 2022, International Anti-Corruption Conference, Washington, DC
Department of Justice's John Marshall Award for Asset Forfeiture (2023)
National Security Division Assistant Attorney General's Award for Outstanding New Initiative (2023)
Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General's Award (2021)
National Security Division Assistant Attorney General's Award for Excellence (2021)
Office of the Director of National Intelligence - Meritorious Unit Citation (2020)
