Compliance

Audits and Program Implementation

• We advise on domestic and foreign laws affecting key aspects of your current or planned operations, identifying what those laws require, and how the compliance function may be used to obtain competitive business advantage.
• We design and implement cost-effective solutions for your business in light of changing requirements or enforcement policies.

Maintenance and Training

• We gauge the effectiveness of your compliance effort by measuring criteria which includes how programs are kept current with legal developments and how carefully those programs are disseminated to managers and employees.
• Our attorneys identify related corporate and executive retention issues, such as how to structure obligations to provide indemnification and defense costs in a manner consistent with your company’s desire to achieve favorable treatment in a governmental investigation or enforcement proceeding.

Corporate

• We act as trusted advisors for our UAS clients on everything from entity formation and operation agreements to navigating tax implications to business succession planning. We also counsel on forming and negotiating joint ventures involving high-tech, cutting-edge research.
• We bring a strategic approach, vast experience and commitment to efficient execution of matters because we take pride in making our clients’ business our business.

Cybersecurity

Unmanned drones’ flight paths are typically programmed from a networked computer or subject to inflight control from ground and their command signals are subject to being breached by bad actors seeking to harm your operations. To address this risk, we offer the following services:

• Assess your incident response plans in the event of a cyber-related incident.
• Identify gaps in your critical data areas and suggest options for closing them through a combination of policy, technology, and human capital training.
• Evaluate the strength of your contractual and insurance indemnification agreements for protection against cyber incidents.
• Analysis of your cybersecurity compliance plans as they relate to UAS.

Government Contracting

• We counsel clients on qualifying and registering as a vendor to government agencies such as the FAA, NASA, Department of Justice and Department of Defense.
• Our attorneys advise on the applicability and requirements of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FARs) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARs) to government contractors and subcontractors.
• We draft and assist with implementation of compliance programs consistent with governmental requirements or industry standards.

Import/Export Controls and Licensing

• We advise on handling defense-related articles, services or technical data under the International Trafficking In Arms Regulations (ITAR).
• We counsel on the classification and export of civilian products and technologies that may also have “dual use” military applications under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
• We will determine if an export license or special operational practices are necessary to avoid inadvertent ‘deemed export’ violations of federal law when export-controlled items are shown to foreign nationals within US borders.

Insurance and Risk Management

Much of the insurance industry can sometimes be unfamiliar with both the technology and the scope of drone risk within their portfolios, and insureds fail to appreciate all of the issues that may occur within their existing insurance structures in reference to this exposure. Our insurance coverage group, and insurance consulting group, has substantive experience with drone-related insurance coverage, from both an in-house and external-counsel perspective, and can:

• Assist companies engaging in drone-related commercial undertakings, or the insurance companies that write them, in understanding the scope of their risk and assist in designing an adequate risk transfer, or risk sharing, solution and handle loss or claims under existing policies of insurance, with particular attention to:
  • Assessing coverage for security related risks for staff (proper vetting, experience and other issues which could resulting in coverage issues)
  • Creating new policy wordings and forms to improve and streamline coverage
  • Determining coverage for exposure of operations to cyber-related attacks
  • Assessing coverage for terrorist acts
  • Developing crisis management coverage
  • Offering proper claims handling, administration, and loss/cost control within your coverage/policy form

Intellectual Property

• We advise on the development, purchase sale and licensing of intellectual property (IP) on a global basis including wide-ranging litigation experience on patent infringement, trade dress, trade secrets and unfair competition.
• We draft non-compete agreements and can handle dispute resolution you may face.

Litigation

• Our attorneys litigate business disputes involving commercial contracts in a wide variety of areas including the purchase and sale of businesses, utility contracts, contracts of intellectual property, construction contracts and partnership disputes.
• We handle allegations of improper conduct and unfair trade practices.

US Economic Sanctions Programs

• Our attorneys help you navigate various prohibitions and restrictions on doing business in certain designated circumstances embodied in the sanctions programs administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
• We conduct due diligence investigation of potential overseas clients or markets.
• We advise management on identifying and carefully exploiting new markets (such as Cuba and Iran) as US sanctions policy changes and General Licenses to conduct business are expanded.