Professor of Law, Notre Dame University
Roger P. Alford joined the Notre Dame Law faculty in January 2012. Alford teaches and writes in a wide range of subject-matter areas, including international trade, international arbitration, international antitrust, and comparative law.
Alford earned his B.A. with Honors from Baylor in 1985, his J.D. with Honors from New York University, and his LL.M. from Edinburgh University. Before entering the legal academy, he served as a law clerk to Judge James Buckley of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Richard Allison of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. He practiced law with Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells) in Washington, D.C., and was also a senior legal advisor to the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Activities in Zurich, Switzerland.
In addition to publishing widely in leading law reviews and journals, Alford is the general editor of Kluwer Arbitration Blog and on the Executive Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration.
He is Concurrent Professor at the Keough School of Global Affairs, a Faculty Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and a Faculty Fellow at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. He was the Academic Director of the London Global Gateway from 2016-2017 and Associate Dean for Graduate and International Programs from 2013-2017.
He served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for International Affairs with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2017-2019.
JAMS Mediator and Arbitrator
Gary Birnberg, Esq., FCIArb is a seasoned ADR professional, specializing in the resolution of a diverse array of commercial matters both domestic and international. He has served as mediator, arbitrator, or special master in hundreds of disputes and is known for employing his legal acumen and business skills to quickly grasp the facts in complex cases. He is appreciated by attorneys and clients for his ability to nurture trust and for the determination and creativity that he employs to find common settlement ground among the parties.
Mr. Birnberg is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit and Appellate mediator admitted to the Bar in four U.S. states, including New York and the District of Columbia, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has served as an arbitrator or mediator and sits on panel lists maintained by institutions worldwide, including CAM-CCBC, ICC, ICDR, and JAMS. He is a sought-after speaker and trainer in various areas of ADR. Recently, he single-handedly mediated to settlement a US$600 million limit of liability insurance claim in an international, multi-lingual mediation with 56 participants, including insured, insured’s institutional shareholders, numerous insurers and re-insurers, and attorneys for all direct and interested parties.
Mr. Birnberg is a U.S. citizen and permanent resident of Brazil, fluent in English, French, and Portuguese with conversational capacity in Italian and Spanish. He is active within the international legal community, staying current on local and international issues to continue his growth and expertise as a neutral.
Mediation Specialist, Office of the Ombudsman for UN Funds and Programmes, The United Nations
Mushegh Manukyan is a technology enthusiast international lawyer with significant in-house experience who has a passion for solving novel legal problems and navigating through different legal systems with a special focus on EMEA, APAC, and Latin America. He is a true believer in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and enjoy resolving complex legal disputes through negotiations, mediation, and arbitration. His current efforts focus on developing capacity and encouraging international mediation with the United Nations system.
He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and admitted to practice law in New York, Washington D.C. (Special Legal Consultant), and Armenia.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
Senior Counsel, Litigation, Defense of Freedom Institute
Don Daugherty is Senior Counsel, Litigation, at the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies. He previously served as a Senior Counsel at the Institute for Free Speech and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. Before that, he was a partner at three of Wisconsin’s largest firms, with nearly 30 years of trial and appellate litigation experience. He has been consistently recognized as among the “Best Lawyers in America,” as well as Wisconsin’s “Super Lawyers.” He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from Northwestern University Law School. After law school, he served as a clerk to the Honorable Roger J. Miner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Don is on the Board of Advisors for the Milwaukee Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society, and on the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s Litigation Practice Group.
President, Americas and Global Chief Legal Officer, Merkle Science
Mary Beth Buchanan is currently President, Americas and Global Chief Legal Officer at Merkle Science. She was former General Counsel for Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange. She was a partner at Bryan Cave LLP in the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations and Securities Litigation and Enforcement Client Service Groups. She concentrated her practice on white collar criminal defense, SEC and FINRA enforcement matters, corporate and accounting fraud, internal investigations, corporate compliance, foreign corrupt practices violations, Congressional investigations and complex civil litigation.
Ms. Buchanan served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from September 2001 to November 2009, having been appointed by President George W. Bush. She is the only woman in Pennsylvania's history to be presidentially appointed to this position. As the United States Attorney, Ms. Buchanan oversaw the prosecution of more than 5,000 cases, including corporate and securities fraud, bank fraud, foreign corrupt practices, false claims, money laundering, health care fraud, public corruption and a broad range of violent crimes. Prior to that time, Ms. Buchanan spent more than 13 years as an Assistant United States Attorney litigating criminal, civil and appellate cases.
During her tenure as the United States Attorney, Ms. Buchanan also held several posts at the DOJ, including serving as the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, acting director of the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women and chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. Ms. Buchanan also served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's Organizational Guidelines Advisory Committee, which made recommendations to the Commission for amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines for Business Organizations.
Associate, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Brooke Cook is a member of the firm’s Commercial Disputes and Investigations, Financial Regulation, and White Collar Practice Groups. She serves as counsel in a variety of complex commercial litigation matters in both state and federal court, including business litigation, commercial contract disputes, real estate litigation, and employment litigation. Her practice also includes representing both individuals and large companies in government enforcement actions and investigations. Ms. Cook also maintains an active pro bono practice.
Ms. Cook was a summer associate in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s New York office in 2016. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Cook was a judicial intern to the Honorable Norman K. Moon of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia and an extern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California in the criminal division. During law school, Ms. Cook served as a Dillard Fellow for the Legal Research and Writing program at the University of Virginia School of Law where she assisted first year law students with drafting legal memoranda and appellate briefs and judged an appellate oral argument competition. She was also the assistant managing editor for the Journal of Law & Politics.
Before law school, Ms. Cook worked in public policy in Washington, D.C.
Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Former Governor of South Carolina; Author, With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace
Nikki Haley is the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration. She is the 29th person to serve in the position.
President Donald Trump asked Haley to serve in the position on November 23, 2016. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 24, 2017 and served until December 2018.
Haley previously served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. From 2005 to 2010, Haley served in the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 87, Lexington County.
President, Americas and Global Chief Legal Officer, Merkle Science
Mary Beth Buchanan is currently President, Americas and Global Chief Legal Officer at Merkle Science. She was former General Counsel for Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange. She was a partner at Bryan Cave LLP in the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations and Securities Litigation and Enforcement Client Service Groups. She concentrated her practice on white collar criminal defense, SEC and FINRA enforcement matters, corporate and accounting fraud, internal investigations, corporate compliance, foreign corrupt practices violations, Congressional investigations and complex civil litigation.
Ms. Buchanan served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from September 2001 to November 2009, having been appointed by President George W. Bush. She is the only woman in Pennsylvania's history to be presidentially appointed to this position. As the United States Attorney, Ms. Buchanan oversaw the prosecution of more than 5,000 cases, including corporate and securities fraud, bank fraud, foreign corrupt practices, false claims, money laundering, health care fraud, public corruption and a broad range of violent crimes. Prior to that time, Ms. Buchanan spent more than 13 years as an Assistant United States Attorney litigating criminal, civil and appellate cases.
During her tenure as the United States Attorney, Ms. Buchanan also held several posts at the DOJ, including serving as the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, acting director of the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women and chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. Ms. Buchanan also served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's Organizational Guidelines Advisory Committee, which made recommendations to the Commission for amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines for Business Organizations.
Associate, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Brooke Cook is a member of the firm’s Commercial Disputes and Investigations, Financial Regulation, and White Collar Practice Groups. She serves as counsel in a variety of complex commercial litigation matters in both state and federal court, including business litigation, commercial contract disputes, real estate litigation, and employment litigation. Her practice also includes representing both individuals and large companies in government enforcement actions and investigations. Ms. Cook also maintains an active pro bono practice.
Ms. Cook was a summer associate in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s New York office in 2016. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Cook was a judicial intern to the Honorable Norman K. Moon of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia and an extern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California in the criminal division. During law school, Ms. Cook served as a Dillard Fellow for the Legal Research and Writing program at the University of Virginia School of Law where she assisted first year law students with drafting legal memoranda and appellate briefs and judged an appellate oral argument competition. She was also the assistant managing editor for the Journal of Law & Politics.
Before law school, Ms. Cook worked in public policy in Washington, D.C.
Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Former Governor of South Carolina; Author, With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace
Nikki Haley is the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration. She is the 29th person to serve in the position.
President Donald Trump asked Haley to serve in the position on November 23, 2016. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 24, 2017 and served until December 2018.
Haley previously served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. From 2005 to 2010, Haley served in the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 87, Lexington County.
Founder, Libertas-West Project
Karen Lugo is a constitutional law consultant and national security analyst. She was Director of the Center for Tenth Amendment at Texas Public Policy Foundation from 2013 to 2015. When living in California, she was Co-Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence Center. From 2005 – 2012, she was a clinical visiting and adjunct professor at Chapman University School of Law where she co-taught the advanced Constitutional Law Clinic. Karen has co-authored and written circuit-level and Supreme Court amicus briefs on such issues as FISA Surveillance, Healthcare Reform, Arizona’s Border Security, Gay Marriage, The Ten Commandments, Eminent Domain, Christian Clubs on University Campuses, and Material Support for Terrorists.
Karen is the founder of the Libertas-West Project, a center for study Islamic integration and radicalization issues. In this capacity, she consulted with the Center for Security Policy to write a book on local over-watch of mosque construction and community engagement called: Mosques in America: A Guide to Accountable Permit Hearings and Continuing Citizen Oversight.
Karen writes and speaks for European and American groups on the importance of basing assimilation efforts on principles of Western exceptionalism. She presented a policy brief to the French Conseil d’Etat analyzing the legal implications of banning the burqa. Ms. Lugo has written one of the most comprehensive overviews of sharia law in American courts, American Family Law and Sharia-Compliant Marriages, for the Federalist Society law journal, Engage. She has written several white papers on the American Law for American Courts legislation and sharia tribunals in America.
Ms. Lugo was an appointee to the California Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She also taught a Human Rights law course on the contrast between French and English Enlightenment theories in Strasbourg, France.
Until moving from California, Ms. Lugo was a member of the David Horowitz Freedom Center Board of Directors. She was also a regular guest on the Orange County PBS local issues debate program, Inside OC, and she is a contributor to Pajamas Media, National Review Online, City Journal, American Spectator, American Greatness, Townhall.com, American Thinker, Daily Caller, and Family Security Matters. She has been interviewed by dozens of radio hosts and has spoken for civic groups on constitutional and cultural concerns.
Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
David Cohen, who leads the firm's Financial and Business Integrity Group, provides clients with anti-money laundering, financial and trade sanctions advice; represents US and foreign-based clients in matters implicating national security, including CFIUS and cybersecurity; conducts internal investigations; and defends clients facing government investigations. His practice has a strong emphasis on disputes involving US and foreign regulators and enforcement agencies, often involving cross-border issues, as well as proceedings in US and foreign adjudicative venues.
Before rejoining the firm in 2017, Mr. Cohen served for eight years in senior presidentially appointed positions. From 2015–2017, Mr. Cohen was Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he helped manage the Agency's domestic and worldwide operations, oversee its strategic modernization, and lead foreign intelligence collection, all-source analysis, covert action, counter-intelligence and foreign liaison relationships. Mr. Cohen also directed special projects on the impact of new technologies on the Agency and on how best to work with US companies to advance the CIA's mission. At the conclusion of his tenure, Mr. Cohen was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA's highest honor.
Previously, Mr. Cohen served for four years in the US Department of the Treasury as Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, where he managed the department's policy, regulatory, enforcement and intelligence functions aimed at combating illicit finance, including money laundering and other financial crime, and disrupting financial support to nations, organizations and individuals posing a threat to national security. He directly supervised the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which implements financial and economic sanctions, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the anti-money laundering regulatory and enforcement agency. Mr. Cohen was instrumental in developing and implementing sanctions against Iran, Russia, North Korea, ISIS, al Qa'ida and other terrorist organizations, for which he was described as “President Obama's favorite combatant commander” and as the administration's “financial Batman.”
Mr. Cohen previously served for two years as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing, overseeing policy development related to sanctions and money laundering. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cohen served in Treasury's general counsel's office, where he helped craft legislation that formed the basis of Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, the post-9/11 legislation that provided new tools to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Prior to his most recent government service, Mr. Cohen practiced law in Washington DC for nearly 20 years, including as a partner at WilmerHale. His practice at WilmerHale focused on complex civil litigation, white-collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance advice.
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gates Corporation
Matthew R. A. Heiman joined the Company in May 2026 and has served as the Company’s Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since June 2026. As Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Heiman is responsible for all legal functions for Gates, including securities and corporate governance, M&A, litigation, commercial, regulatory, compliance, patents and trademarks, real estate, employment and labor, sustainability and environmental matters. Prior to joining Gates, Mr. Heiman held senior legal leadership roles at Waystar, where he served as Chief Legal & Administrative Officer from 2023 to 2025 and as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that, he was with Johnson Controls, where he served as Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and Associate General Counsel. Mr. Heiman has been a Senior Fellow for the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law since 2018.
Principal in the International, BGR Group
Lester Munson is a Principal in the International at BGR Group, a leading government relations firm in Washington, D.C., where he consults with foreign governments, corporations and advocacy groups. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and speaks regularly on the foreign policy role of Congress and on U.S. foreign assistance issues. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, a Visiting Fellow at George Mason’s National Security Institute and a commentator on Fox News Channel and the China Global Television Network.
Mr. Munson joined BGR Group in November 2015 after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He was most recently Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department and Congressional leadership.
Previously, Mr. Munson was Chief of Staff for Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois. During his tenure, Senator Kirk became the leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
During the Bush Administration, Mr. Munson served as Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Mr. Munson is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He is married with two children.
Professor of Law, Notre Dame University
Roger P. Alford joined the Notre Dame Law faculty in January 2012. Alford teaches and writes in a wide range of subject-matter areas, including international trade, international arbitration, international antitrust, and comparative law.
Alford earned his B.A. with Honors from Baylor in 1985, his J.D. with Honors from New York University, and his LL.M. from Edinburgh University. Before entering the legal academy, he served as a law clerk to Judge James Buckley of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Richard Allison of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. He practiced law with Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells) in Washington, D.C., and was also a senior legal advisor to the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Activities in Zurich, Switzerland.
In addition to publishing widely in leading law reviews and journals, Alford is the general editor of Kluwer Arbitration Blog and on the Executive Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration.
He is Concurrent Professor at the Keough School of Global Affairs, a Faculty Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and a Faculty Fellow at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. He was the Academic Director of the London Global Gateway from 2016-2017 and Associate Dean for Graduate and International Programs from 2013-2017.
He served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for International Affairs with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2017-2019.
JAMS Mediator and Arbitrator
Gary Birnberg, Esq., FCIArb is a seasoned ADR professional, specializing in the resolution of a diverse array of commercial matters both domestic and international. He has served as mediator, arbitrator, or special master in hundreds of disputes and is known for employing his legal acumen and business skills to quickly grasp the facts in complex cases. He is appreciated by attorneys and clients for his ability to nurture trust and for the determination and creativity that he employs to find common settlement ground among the parties.
Mr. Birnberg is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit and Appellate mediator admitted to the Bar in four U.S. states, including New York and the District of Columbia, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has served as an arbitrator or mediator and sits on panel lists maintained by institutions worldwide, including CAM-CCBC, ICC, ICDR, and JAMS. He is a sought-after speaker and trainer in various areas of ADR. Recently, he single-handedly mediated to settlement a US$600 million limit of liability insurance claim in an international, multi-lingual mediation with 56 participants, including insured, insured’s institutional shareholders, numerous insurers and re-insurers, and attorneys for all direct and interested parties.
Mr. Birnberg is a U.S. citizen and permanent resident of Brazil, fluent in English, French, and Portuguese with conversational capacity in Italian and Spanish. He is active within the international legal community, staying current on local and international issues to continue his growth and expertise as a neutral.
Mediation Specialist, Office of the Ombudsman for UN Funds and Programmes, The United Nations
Mushegh Manukyan is a technology enthusiast international lawyer with significant in-house experience who has a passion for solving novel legal problems and navigating through different legal systems with a special focus on EMEA, APAC, and Latin America. He is a true believer in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and enjoy resolving complex legal disputes through negotiations, mediation, and arbitration. His current efforts focus on developing capacity and encouraging international mediation with the United Nations system.
He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and admitted to practice law in New York, Washington D.C. (Special Legal Consultant), and Armenia.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
President, Americas and Global Chief Legal Officer, Merkle Science
Mary Beth Buchanan is currently President, Americas and Global Chief Legal Officer at Merkle Science. She was former General Counsel for Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange. She was a partner at Bryan Cave LLP in the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations and Securities Litigation and Enforcement Client Service Groups. She concentrated her practice on white collar criminal defense, SEC and FINRA enforcement matters, corporate and accounting fraud, internal investigations, corporate compliance, foreign corrupt practices violations, Congressional investigations and complex civil litigation.
Ms. Buchanan served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from September 2001 to November 2009, having been appointed by President George W. Bush. She is the only woman in Pennsylvania's history to be presidentially appointed to this position. As the United States Attorney, Ms. Buchanan oversaw the prosecution of more than 5,000 cases, including corporate and securities fraud, bank fraud, foreign corrupt practices, false claims, money laundering, health care fraud, public corruption and a broad range of violent crimes. Prior to that time, Ms. Buchanan spent more than 13 years as an Assistant United States Attorney litigating criminal, civil and appellate cases.
During her tenure as the United States Attorney, Ms. Buchanan also held several posts at the DOJ, including serving as the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, acting director of the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women and chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. Ms. Buchanan also served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's Organizational Guidelines Advisory Committee, which made recommendations to the Commission for amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines for Business Organizations.
Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Former Governor of South Carolina; Author, With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace
Nikki Haley is the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration. She is the 29th person to serve in the position.
President Donald Trump asked Haley to serve in the position on November 23, 2016. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 24, 2017 and served until December 2018.
Haley previously served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. From 2005 to 2010, Haley served in the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 87, Lexington County.
Associate, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Brooke Cook is a member of the firm’s Commercial Disputes and Investigations, Financial Regulation, and White Collar Practice Groups. She serves as counsel in a variety of complex commercial litigation matters in both state and federal court, including business litigation, commercial contract disputes, real estate litigation, and employment litigation. Her practice also includes representing both individuals and large companies in government enforcement actions and investigations. Ms. Cook also maintains an active pro bono practice.
Ms. Cook was a summer associate in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s New York office in 2016. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Cook was a judicial intern to the Honorable Norman K. Moon of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia and an extern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California in the criminal division. During law school, Ms. Cook served as a Dillard Fellow for the Legal Research and Writing program at the University of Virginia School of Law where she assisted first year law students with drafting legal memoranda and appellate briefs and judged an appellate oral argument competition. She was also the assistant managing editor for the Journal of Law & Politics.
Before law school, Ms. Cook worked in public policy in Washington, D.C.
Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
David Cohen, who leads the firm's Financial and Business Integrity Group, provides clients with anti-money laundering, financial and trade sanctions advice; represents US and foreign-based clients in matters implicating national security, including CFIUS and cybersecurity; conducts internal investigations; and defends clients facing government investigations. His practice has a strong emphasis on disputes involving US and foreign regulators and enforcement agencies, often involving cross-border issues, as well as proceedings in US and foreign adjudicative venues.
Before rejoining the firm in 2017, Mr. Cohen served for eight years in senior presidentially appointed positions. From 2015–2017, Mr. Cohen was Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he helped manage the Agency's domestic and worldwide operations, oversee its strategic modernization, and lead foreign intelligence collection, all-source analysis, covert action, counter-intelligence and foreign liaison relationships. Mr. Cohen also directed special projects on the impact of new technologies on the Agency and on how best to work with US companies to advance the CIA's mission. At the conclusion of his tenure, Mr. Cohen was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA's highest honor.
Previously, Mr. Cohen served for four years in the US Department of the Treasury as Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, where he managed the department's policy, regulatory, enforcement and intelligence functions aimed at combating illicit finance, including money laundering and other financial crime, and disrupting financial support to nations, organizations and individuals posing a threat to national security. He directly supervised the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which implements financial and economic sanctions, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the anti-money laundering regulatory and enforcement agency. Mr. Cohen was instrumental in developing and implementing sanctions against Iran, Russia, North Korea, ISIS, al Qa'ida and other terrorist organizations, for which he was described as “President Obama's favorite combatant commander” and as the administration's “financial Batman.”
Mr. Cohen previously served for two years as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing, overseeing policy development related to sanctions and money laundering. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cohen served in Treasury's general counsel's office, where he helped craft legislation that formed the basis of Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, the post-9/11 legislation that provided new tools to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Prior to his most recent government service, Mr. Cohen practiced law in Washington DC for nearly 20 years, including as a partner at WilmerHale. His practice at WilmerHale focused on complex civil litigation, white-collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance advice.
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gates Corporation
Matthew R. A. Heiman joined the Company in May 2026 and has served as the Company’s Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since June 2026. As Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Heiman is responsible for all legal functions for Gates, including securities and corporate governance, M&A, litigation, commercial, regulatory, compliance, patents and trademarks, real estate, employment and labor, sustainability and environmental matters. Prior to joining Gates, Mr. Heiman held senior legal leadership roles at Waystar, where he served as Chief Legal & Administrative Officer from 2023 to 2025 and as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that, he was with Johnson Controls, where he served as Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and Associate General Counsel. Mr. Heiman has been a Senior Fellow for the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law since 2018.
Principal in the International, BGR Group
Lester Munson is a Principal in the International at BGR Group, a leading government relations firm in Washington, D.C., where he consults with foreign governments, corporations and advocacy groups. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and speaks regularly on the foreign policy role of Congress and on U.S. foreign assistance issues. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, a Visiting Fellow at George Mason’s National Security Institute and a commentator on Fox News Channel and the China Global Television Network.
Mr. Munson joined BGR Group in November 2015 after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He was most recently Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department and Congressional leadership.
Previously, Mr. Munson was Chief of Staff for Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois. During his tenure, Senator Kirk became the leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
During the Bush Administration, Mr. Munson served as Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Mr. Munson is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He is married with two children.
The Singapore Convention on Mediation: What it Means for International Litigation and Arbitration
Roger P. Alford, Gary Birnberg, Mushegh Manukyan, Harout J. Samra
The Singapore Convention on Mediation was opened for signature on August 7, 2019, with the...
An Imagined Bloc and Other Figments
Donald A. Daugherty
A review of American Justice 2019: The Roberts Court Arrives, by Mark Joseph Stern (University...
The Singapore Convention on Mediation: What it Means for International Litigation and Arbitration
TeleforumA Discussion with Hon. Nikki Haley
Mary Beth Buchanan, Brooke Cook Wilson, Nikki R. Haley
On January 16, 2020, the Federalist Society's New York City Lawyers and Young Lawyers Chapters...
A Discussion with Hon. Nikki Haley
Mary Beth Buchanan, Brooke Cook Wilson, Nikki R. Haley
On January 16, 2020, the Federalist Society's New York City Lawyers and Young Lawyers Chapters...
A Discussion with Hon. Nikki Haley
New York City Lawyers Chapter and New York City Young Lawyers Chapter
New York, NYTopics
Originally Speaking: Climate Change and Common Law Public Nuisance
Originally Speaking is a written debate series that approaches a contemporary topic from diverse perspectives. The...
Giving Credit for Shaping the Constitution
Karen J. Lugo
A review of: The Lives of the Constitution: Ten Exceptional Minds That Shaped America’s Supreme Law,...
The JCPOA Withdrawal
David S. Cohen, Matthew R. A. Heiman, Lester Munson
In 2015, the United States, along with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and...
The JCPOA Withdrawal
International & National Security Law Practice Group Teleforum
Teleforum