Lucinda A. Low

Partner

• llow@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20036
TEL: 202.429.8051
FAX: 202.429.3902

 

Lucinda A. Low is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where she is a member of the International Department, heads the firm’s FCPA practice, and serves on the firm's Executive Committee. She has a practice focusing on US and international anti-corruption laws, advising clients on matters ranging from preventive work to representation in internal investigations and enforcement matters worldwide.  She is a widely recognized authority in the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and related international conventions from the OECD, OAS, United Nations, and European Union.

Ms. Low’s FCPA practice includes internal compliance program development and implementation for multinational companies, including establishing workable compliance policies and procedures; training for company management and employee personnel; benchmarking and auditing programs for best practices and effectiveness; due diligence in mergers and acquisitions, third-party relationships, and other transactions; developing risk-mitigation strategies; conducting internal investigations, audits, and risk assessments; dealing with parallel proceedings; opinions and expert testimony; and representing clients before enforcement agencies and bodies, such as the SEC, the US Department of Justice, and other authorities.  Her clients include companies, boards of directors, individuals, and other professional firms.

Ms. Low’s practice also includes legal advice and counsel in other international regulatory compliance areas, such as export controls, economic sanctions, and anti-money laundering laws.  In addition, Ms. Low has represented companies in World Bank investigations, audits, and sanctions proceedings in cases involving anti-corruption rules in World Bank-financed projects.  She also has significant experience in investment disputes between foreign investors and host governments, and commercial arbitration, including serving as counsel, arbitrator, and an expert witness.

Ms. Low is a member of the Board of Directors of Transparency International - USA, and the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on International Law.  She is a former Chair of the ABA Section of International Law, and former Vice President and member of the Executive Committee of the American Society of International Law.  She was the 2003 recipient of the William Ray Vallance Award presented by the Inter-American Bar Foundation, presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution toward improving the law and jurisprudence of the Western Hemisphere.

Ms. Low graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the UCLA Law Review.  She was an Adjunct Professor at American University, Washington College of Law in 1993 and at the University of Colorado School of Law in 1987 and 1989.

Noteworthy

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America 2010 for International Arbitration, and International Trade and Finance Law
• Served as arbitrator appointed by the United States in The Canadian Cattlemen for Fair Trade (CCFT) v. The United States of America, a multi-million dollar, multiple-claim UNCITRAL arbitration arising under the NAFTA. In addition to Ms. Low, James L. Bacchus and Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel served on the Tribunal. 
• Listed in Ethisphere’s 2009 Attorneys Who Matter for FCPA Compliance
• Chair, ABA Section of International Law & Practice, 1996-1997

Select News & Events

• "Corruption & Anti-Corruption Laws: Managing the Risk in the Energy Sector on a Global Basis" at AIPN Spring Conference 2010 in Texas, April 22, 2010
• Main Justice Quotes Lucinda Low on FCPA
• Bulletproof Blog Interviews Lucinda Low About Global Compliance Challenges in 2010
• “The FCPA Year in Review: Recent FCPA Investigations and Prosecutions” at the 22nd National Forum on Foreign Corrupt Practice Act in Washington, DC
• “The FCPA: Coping with Heightened Enforcement Risk” at the IADC Annual General Meeting in Miami, Florida
• Complying with FCPA in a Heightened Enforcement Environment: What Advice You Need to Give Your Clients & When, October 28, 2009
• “Teaching and Practicing International Law in a Global Environment: Towards a Common Language of International Law” at the 88th Annual Meeting of the American Branch of the International Law Association in New York City
• Best Lawyers in America Honors 44 Steptoe Attorneys
• Jonathan Drimmer, Andy Irwin, Ed Krauland & Lucinda Low Will Participate in a Webinar on International Regulatory Compliance Challenges Facing Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractors, May 13, 2009
• Lucinda Low presents "Overview of the FCPA and the International Landscape", April 29, 2009
• Damages in International Arbitration: Strategies, Techniques & Presentation, April 2, 2009

Selected Publications

• International Law Advisory - 2009 UK Anti-Corruption Year in Review
  February 22, 2010
• Private Investor Frederic Bourke Sentenced to Prison and $1 Million Fine
  November 16, 2009, International Law Advisory
• International Law Advisory - UK Company to Pay £6.6 Million in Foreign Bribery Conviction
  September 30, 2009
• International Law Advisory - SEC Adopts Several Expansive Applications of the Federal Securities Laws in the Recent FCPA Enforcement Action Against Nature’s Sunshine and Two Senior Executives
  September 8, 2009
• International Law Advisory - UK Serious Fraud Office Issues Guidance on Overseas Corruption Investigations
  July 30, 2009
• International Law Advisory - Private Investor Convicted for Involvement in Scheme to Bribe Officials in the Republic of Azerbaijan
  July 22, 2009
• Mabey & Johnson Pleads Guilty in the First Successful UK Corporate Prosecution for Overseas Bribery
  July 15, 2009
• International Law Advisory - U.S. Department of the Treasury Publishes Statistics Regarding International Boycott Reports
  July 2, 2009

More Publications »

Professional Affiliations

• Board of Directors, Transparency International - USA
• Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on International Law
• Global Anti-Corruption Advisory Board for the American Conference Institute
• International Bar Association
• Inter-American Bar Association
• American Bar Association