Overview
Megan Lew is of counsel in the Litigation Department and is based in the firm’s New York office. Her practice focuses on internal and government investigations, civil litigation and regulatory compliance, with significant experience in matters involving economic sanctions, export controls, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), fraud, money laundering and securities laws.
Megan has represented a wide range of U.S. and multinational clients in industries including consumer products, aircraft leasing, biotech, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, telecommunications, shipping, financial services and cloud computing. Her representations include matters before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Megan has successfully obtained trade sanctions and export controls licenses for numerous multinational clients, including authorizations for transactions involving matters of first impression before those agencies. She routinely counsels clients on submitting voluntary self-disclosures to OFAC and BIS and any subsequent settlements with those agencies.
Megan also advises companies on trade sanctions and export controls matters in the context of significant corporate matters, including M&A, securities offerings and lending transactions. Clients routinely seek her out to analyze the applicability of trade sanctions and export controls regulations to their business and to formulate risk mitigation strategies.
In addition, Megan regularly assists clients with their compliance programs regarding anti‑bribery and corruption, trade sanctions and export controls, insider trading and whistleblowing. Her experience includes writing compliance policies, developing training materials, advising on internal controls and benchmarking compliance programs against guidance from U.S. government agencies and industry best practices.
Education
- New York University School of Law, J.D. (cum laude), 2010
- Cornell University, B.S. (magna cum laude), 2004
Representations
- British American Tobacco in its agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to resolve sanctions breaches involving legacy business in North Korea.
- AerCap Holdings, the world’s largest commercial aircraft leasing company, in obtaining authorizations from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security to settle insurance claims of over $1 billion involving Russian airlines’ refusal to return aircraft and engines leased from AerCap following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
- Vista Outdoor on export controls matters in connection with its sale of its Revelyst subsidiary to Strategic Value Partners and its The Kinetic Group subsidiary to Czechoslovak Group.
- Goldman Sachs Asset Management in its settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission addressing historical policies and procedures related to three of its ESG investment portfolios.
Engagement & Publications
Publications
- Co-authored the “U.S. Sanctions” chapter in Global Investigation Review’s “The Guide to Sanctions” (4th ed. 2023) and the “Co-operating with the Authorities: U.S. Perspective” chapter in Global Investigation Review’s “The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations” (7th ed. 2023). Published articles in Law360 regarding developments in export controls.