Partners Benjamin Powell and Stephen Preston were extensively quoted in a recent National Law Journal article on how national security lawyers are helping clients navigate the evolving and tricky challenges created by several factors including: increased federal oversight of government contracting, the war in Ukraine, supply-chain sourcing from China, defense budget politics and cybersecurity concerns.
Powell, co-chair of WilmerHale’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice, noted that numerous changes across the spectrum of subjects affecting defense contractors have increased the demand for legal services. Heightened regulatory and enforcement activity, for instance, has had an impact, he said: “You have an increasingly active DoD and Department of Justice looking at government contracting issues. And every time the U.S. imposes new regulations, you have a compliance and investigatory piece to the work for law firms in this space.”
The shifting set of issues is not just affecting traditional defense contractors but “companies across multiple economic sectors,” Stephen Preston, chair of WilmerHale’s Defense, National Security and Government Contracts Practice, told the publication. “China has essentially weaponized cross-border transactions—both corporate combinations and commercial transactions—with the purpose of eroding our technological advantage on the battlefield. That itself is giving rise to stronger regulatory enforcement interest and more complex compliance challenges for companies across the economic spectrum.”