State National Security Law and Role Conflicts

Ian Richardson, Partner | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Ian C. Richardson is a partner in Paul, Weiss’s Litigation Department and a member of the firm’s National Security, Investigations, Cybersecurity & Data Protection, and White Collar & Regulatory Defense practice groups. An experienced trial and appellate advocate, he spent over a decade as a federal prosecutor in New York and Washington, DC, where he earned recognition for leading and resolving complex investigations of corporate crime implicating U.S. national security interests. His practice centers on government investigations, national security compliance and enforcement, and cybercrime.

• Education & Credentials

Ian earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Reena Raggi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Hon. Nicholas G. Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ian’s government service has been honored with the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security (2023), the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence in International Operations (2023), and the ODNI National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director’s Award for Excellence (2024). He was named to the 2026 Lawdragon “500 Leading Litigators in America” and “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers.”

• Professional Involvement

Ian speaks regularly to business, practitioner, academic, and law enforcement audiences in the United States and abroad on government investigations, national security compliance and enforcement, and cybercrime. He co-authored, with David Kessler and Samuel Rebo, “States Taking on National Security Duties” in Bloomberg Law—directly on point for this program.

• Experience

At the DOJ National Security Division, Ian directed and supervised prosecutors on major national security corporate enforcement matters involving export controls, sanctions, terror financing, espionage, and the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). He also oversaw the first declination under the DOJ’s Mergers and Acquisitions Policy. Earlier, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York for over eight years, he conducted five jury trials and two bench trials and argued eight appeals before the Second Circuit, serving as the office’s National Security Cyber Specialist.

David Kessler, Partner | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

David K. Kessler is a partner in Paul, Weiss’s Litigation Department, a former federal prosecutor, and an experienced trial and appellate lawyer. He frequently handles significant matters with both civil and criminal dimensions, including those involving state attorneys general and the federal government. His practice spans white collar matters, complex business litigation, national security and cybersecurity matters, internal investigations, and regulatory enforcement proceedings, and he works with clients to build long-term legal strategies while handling front-line litigation before judges and juries.

• Education & Credentials

David earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he served as a senior editor of the Journal of Law and Public Policy, and his A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard College. He served as a law clerk to the Hon. Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Before entering law, he worked as a business analyst at a global management consulting firm.

• Recognition & Leadership

For his role in the Huawei investigation, David received the National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (2022) and the FinCEN Director’s Law Enforcement Award (2022). He has been recognized by Lawdragon, with Paul, Weiss noting his inclusion among honored litigators. He serves on the board of directors of the Harvard Law School Association of New York City and previously served on the board of the Harvard Law School Association. From 2018 to 2023, he taught a “Cybercrime” seminar at New York Law School.

• Professional Involvement

David speaks and writes regularly on national security, corporate criminal enforcement, financial crimes, and cybercrime. Recent engagements include discussions of the DOJ’s corporate crime enforcement priorities, the expansion of DOJ’s national-security-related corporate enforcement at Harvard Law School, and an NYSBA panel on financial regulation and money laundering. He co-authored, with Ian Richardson and Samuel Rebo, “States Taking on National Security Duties” in Bloomberg Law.

• Experience

During his seven-and-a-half-year tenure as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, David directed the office’s Cybercrime Task Force and served as a senior member of the National Security and Cybercrime Section. He played a key role in the investigation and prosecution of Huawei Technologies Co. and its CFO—matters involving alleged financial fraud against four international financial institutions, intellectual property crimes, money laundering, sanctions violations, and a two-year extradition litigation in Canada.

Samuel Rebo, Associate | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Samuel Rebo is an associate in Paul, Weiss’s Litigation Department, where he focuses on national security–related litigation and investigations and represents clients in high-stakes regulatory matters before a range of federal agencies. A central focus of his practice is crafting arguments that challenge the validity of agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution—work that places him squarely at the intersection of administrative law, constitutional litigation, and national security. That focus builds directly on his government service as a Trial Attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice.

• Education & Credentials

Sam earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his B.A., with distinction, from Stanford University. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia. While in law school, he served as an editor-in-chief of the Harvard National Security Journal.

• Recognition & Leadership

His leadership and scholarly standing are reflected in his editor-in-chief role at the Harvard National Security Journal and in his published writing, which has appeared in Lawfare, the Hoover Digest, and Georgetown Law’s Journal of National Security Law & Policy.

• Professional Involvement

Sam writes regularly on national security topics, with work featured in Lawfare, the Hoover Digest, and Georgetown Law’s Journal of National Security Law & Policy. He co-authored, with David Kessler and Ian Richardson, “States Taking on National Security Duties” in Bloomberg Law—directly on point for this program.

• Experience

Sam’s national security focus builds on his service as a Trial Attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he defended high-profile administrative and constitutional law challenges to U.S. government policies. Earlier, he advised multinational clients and investors on the political economics of the former Soviet states at the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy, and he worked with former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul researching U.S.–Russia relations at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

SESSION 1 – The Federal Machinery Behind National Security Review | 1:00pm – 1:30pm

Map the agencies states now build around—DOJ’s National Security Division, post-FIRRMA CFIUS, BIS export controls, and OFAC—so you can see where state law starts and federal authority ends.

SESSION 2 – Fifty States, Fifty Rulebooks | 1:30pm – 2:00pm

Sort the emerging categories of state regulation: foreign property restrictions, sanctions and procurement bans, foreign-technology prohibitions, and “Baby FARA” laws—plus the enforcement units already filing suit.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 3 – Where State Power Meets Its Constitutional Limit | 2:10pm – 2:40pm

Track the preemption and constitutional fights now deciding these laws—Jones Eagle, Wang v. Paxton, Shen—and see how statutes get drafted to survive standing challenges and Supremacy Clause attack.

SESSION 4 – National Security or Pretext: The Cost to Foreign Investment | 2:40pm – 3:10pm

Weigh the real economic fallout as foreign investment retreats and “national security” gets challenged as pretext—then assess what overlapping, unpredictable state regimes cost clients pursuing deals in the U.S.