Mr. Burns focuses his practice on international business transactions, export controls, economic sanctions, customs and international intellectual property matters. These transactions principally involve clients in high-tech industries including lasers, software, medical devices, telecommunications, B2B and B2C e-commerce and military equipment. In handling international business transactions, Mr. Burns advises clients on international sales of goods and services, cross-border distributorship agreements, licenses, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions, along with required notifications under Exon-Florio and Hart-Scott-Rodino. In addition, Mr. Burns represents a number of clients in international arbitration proceedings arising under the arbitration clauses commonly found in cross-border business agreements.

Mr. Burns' export control work encompasses a broad range of areas and includes matters involving the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) administered by the Department of Commerce, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) administered by the State Department and the country-based economic sanctions program administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department. Mr. Burns also has broad experience in developing compliance programs for each of these three regulatory schemes, conducting due diligence for compliance with these schemes, and submitting voluntary disclosures of prior unlicensed exports. Customs matters have included registration and enforcement of intellectual property rights with the Customs Service and release of seized merchandise.

Companies represented by Mr. Burns are located in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and the United States. Mr. Burns speaks French fluently.

Mr. Burns is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Northwestern University Law Review and a law clerk for the Honorable Robert A. Sprecher on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

 

Education
 
J.D., cum laude, Northwestern University School of Law, 1978
B.A., with honors, Northwestern University, 1975

Bar & Court Admissions
 
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2000
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1983
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1979
District of Columbia

Memberships
 
District of Columbia Bar Association

Publications
 

Export Law Blog

Feds Knock; A Business Is Lost, USA Today, quoted, July 2008

Business in the Beltway: The Export Cops are Watching, Forbes.com, quoted, June 2008

Chinese Spy 'Slept' In U.S. for 2 Decades, The Washington Post, quoted, April 2008

U.S. Alarmed as Some Exports Veer Off Course in the Mideast, The New York Times, quoted, April 2008

Huntsville Defense Contractor, Charged with Violating Arms Export Control Act, Lost His livelihood and Savings to False U.S. Prosecution, The Birmingham News, quoted, February 2008

Overland Park Company Fined $13,200 for Export to Iran," The Kansas City Star, quoted, February 2008

When US-Made 'Censorware' Ends Up in Iron Fists, The Christian Science Monitor, quoted, October 2007

Dubai's Stake in Nasdaq Causes Alarms, The Deal, quoted, September 2007

"Weatherford Woes," The Deal, published, September 2007

Export Control Freaks, Forbes Magazine, quoted, September 2007

Aerospace and Defense Industries, The International Lawyer, quoted, Summer 2007

Travelocity Fined $183,000 for Booking Trips to Cuba, The Miami Herald, quoted, August 2007

Weatherford Comes Under Investigation; At Issue is Whether Firm did Business with 'Rogue States', The Houston Chronicle, quoted, July 2007

"Compliance Lessons from the Chiquita Case," The Corporate Counselor, published, July 2007

Law Enforcement Struggles to Combat Chinese Spying; 20-Month Case Highlights Difficulty in Fighting Aggressive Spying by Chinese, USAToday.com, quoted, July 2007

SEC Told: Log Rogue Government Ties, The Deal, quoted, June 2007

Downgraded O.C. 'Spy' Case Goes to Jury, LA Times, quoted, May 2007

Engineer Convicted of Spying for China, The New York Sun, quoted, May 2007

Prosecutors Reverse Course in China Spy Case, The New York Sun, quoted, April 2007

"Going Bananas: Chiquita Tried to Protect Its Workers and Got Mashed by Prosecutors," Legal Times, published, April 2007

Business Frets Over Impact of China Spy Case, The New York Sun, quoted, March 2007

"Turning Yourself In: Export Enforcement Trends," Industry Week, March 2007

"Voluntary Disclosures of Export Violations," The Corporate Counselor, February 2007

"Enforcement of ITAR Part 130 Adds Problems for Brokers," The Export Practitioner, December 2006

"Expansion of Brokering Rules Gives Headaches to Exporters," The Export Practitioner, August 2006

"Proof or Consequences: False Advertising and the Doctrine of Commercial Free Speech," 56, University of Cincinnati Law Review, 1988

Speaking Engagements
 
Journal of International Law Annual Symposium, University of Pennsylvania Law School, February 29, 2008

Languages
 
French
 
 
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