Andrew D. Irwin

Partner

1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20036
TEL: 202.429.8177
FAX: 202.429.3902

Andrew D. Irwin is a partner in the Washington and Century City offices of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Litigation and International Departments. He practices at the intersection of government procurement and international regulatory law, focusing primarily on corporate investigations and related compliance counseling. He has a particular background in laws and regulations that relate to government contracting fraud, export controls/sanctions, and foreign corruption. He also has considerable experience in general corporate ethics/compliance counseling, as well as ethics/compliance program administration and development. He has conducted investigations in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East (including on the ground in Iraq). Prior to coming to Steptoe, Mr. Irwin spent several years as inside counsel for one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies.

Government Contracts
Mr. Irwin has counseled clients on a wide range of government contracts issues. A particular area of focus is ethics and compliance, including issues associated with gratuities, bribery, kickbacks and government hiring. Other topics on which Mr. Irwin has provided advice include contingency contracting, foreign acquisition, teaming, proprietary information, schedule contracting, small business subcontracting, and P.L. 85-804. He also assists clients with transactional due diligence.

In addition, as inside counsel to a major government and international contractor, Mr. Irwin advised senior management, business development, and procurement personnel regarding a full range of contract formation and administration issues involving numerous significant programs for the US Departments of Defense and Energy, as well as the US Agency for International Development. In addition, Mr. Irwin supervised bid protest litigation and was responsible for a number of Freedom of Information Act-related matters.

Export Controls, Sanctions, FCPA
Mr. Irwin has considerable experience counseling clients in a number of industries regarding their compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Much of his practice relates to enforcement matters, including voluntary disclosures and related internal investigations. He also advises clients regarding developing policies and procedures to prevent and detect violations and preparing license, classification and commodity jurisdiction requests. Mr. Irwin has also counseled clients regarding all major US sanctions regimes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and conducted investigations and prepared voluntary disclosures regarding potential sanctions violations. In addition, he has helped clients address a wide-range of issues related to working in Iraq and addressing potential supply chain compliance risks when supporting US government contracts abroad.

Mr. Irwin also has extensive Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) experience. He has investigated potential FCPA violations in numerous locales, including having conducted dozens of witness interviews. In addition, he has conducted FCPA/anti-corruption due diligence and audits of sales agents and other business partners or third parties, as well as prepared corporate policies and training materials regarding FCPA compliance. He frequently draws upon his background in public procurement in such matters, including advising clients regarding suspension and debarment risks. He also has experience with respect to anti-corruption issues involving the World Bank.

Government Enforcement & Corporate Compliance
Apart from Mr. Irwin’s experience in international enforcement areas such as the FCPA, Mr. Irwin has also litigated a number of False Claims Act cases and related matters, including those brought by qui tam relators. His clients have included defense, healthcare, and petroleum companies. He has prepared the full-scale compliance program required as part of a defense industry settlement. In addition, while in-house, he was actively involved in developing and administering a global ethics and compliance program for a major company. Mr. Irwin has also assisted clients in parallel criminal investigations, including responding to criminal subpoenas, preparing for and reacting to search warrants, and interacting with IG and FBI agents.

Noteworthy

Mr. Irwin has been an Associate Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School, a guest lecturer for its Government Contracts Program, and has given numerous CLE presentations on a wide range of government contracts and international topics for Federal Publications Seminars. His CLE presentations have included developing and teaching a course on ITAR compliance and voluntary disclosures as well as a course on the fundamentals of government contracts. He also has developed, and co-teaches courses on the FCPA as well as Battlefield Contracting for Federal Publications Seminars. Topics for webcasts have included FCPA due diligence and export controls for government contractors, among others. He is also a frequent author on government contracts, international regulatory matters such as export controls/FCPA, and corporate compliance.
He is on the Advisory Board for Thomson Reuters/West’s The Government Contractor and was a frequent contributor to Thomson Reuters/West’s International Government Contractor. He was a speaker on export controls and FCPA topics at the 2007 Thomson Reuters/West’s Government Contracts Year in Review Conference, spoke at the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Year in Review Conferences primarily on the FCPA and US sanctions and is scheduled to speak at the 2011 Conference regarding the same topics. He also spoke at Thomson Reuter’s 2010 Western Briefing Conference regarding the FCPA and the 2011 Conference regarding the impact of the ITAR and the FCPA on government contractors. He is a co-editor, with Ed Krauland and Jack Hayes, of Thomson Reuters/West’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations Handbook. He co-chaired the American Conference Institute's 2009 National Advanced Forum on Government Contracting Compliance & Ethics and spoke at ACI's 2010 Industry Summit on DoD Contracting regarding the current contracting compliance environment. In October 2010, he co-presented an ACI workshop on the Fundamentals of FCPA and ITAR Compliance for government contractors and in 2012 will speak ACI’s contingency contracting conference regarding export control issues impacting contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also a guest speaker for NCMA's North Texas Chapter regarding International Government and Commercial Contracting in September 2010.
He is the Co-Chair of the International Procurement Committee of the ABA Section of Public Contract Law and moderated a panel on international procurement at the 2011 ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto He has moderated several other ABA-sponsored panels on anti-corruption issues, including the UK Bribery Act.

Select News & Events

Selected Publications

New US Sanctions on the Government of Iran and Iranian Financial Institutions
February 7, 2012
DDTC Proposes Changes to ITAR Brokering Rules
January 25, 2012, The Government Contractor
DDTC Proposes New Brokering Rule
January 3, 2012
DDTC’s Proposed Rule to Implement US-UK and US-Australia Defense Trade Treaties
December 21, 2011, The Government Contractor
Select Issues in the US-Canada Defense Trade
December 2011, Briefing Papers
DDTC Issues Proposed Rule to Implement US-Australia and US-UK Defense Trade Cooperation Treaties
November 28, 2011
Export Controls Reform - Category VIII Transfer
November 22, 2011
Export Controls for US Government Contractors and Subcontractors
September 2011, German Journal on US Export Control Regulations

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