Experience from inside government and global companies.
Beatrice & Asuncion brings together former enforcement leaders, federal prosecutors, senior government lawyers, and experienced in-house counsel to advise clients on export controls, export enforcement, sanctions, CFIUS, technology security, and other national-security matters.
M. Jeffrey Beatrice
Founding PartnerAs Acting Chief Counsel for Industry and Security and Division Chief for Enforcement and Litigation at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Jeff led legal offices responsible for export controls, export enforcement, export licensing, rulemaking, ICTS, emerging and advanced technologies, Section 232 matters, and other national-security issues affecting U.S. companies in sensitive sectors and international markets. In his enforcement leadership role, he oversaw legal support for major export-enforcement investigations, administrative enforcement actions, and some of the government’s most significant export-control cases. He received the Secretary’s Gold Medal Award for a novel export-enforcement action that resulted in a $300 million administrative penalty.
Jeff also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, including as Deputy Chief of the National Security Section, where he supervised terrorism, export-control, sanctions, espionage, and other national-security investigations and prosecutions, and as Special Counsel for National Security to the U.S. Attorney.
Full Biography →
Anthony Asuncion
Founding PartnerAs Chief of the Technology Security Division, Acting Chief Counsel for the Office of Technology Security, and Chief of the Policy, Legislation and Regulation Division at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Tony led legal offices responsible for export-control regulation, enforcement, rulemaking, technology security, emerging and advanced technologies, and other national-security matters. He helped establish and operationalize the Department’s ICTS regulatory framework and led the Department’s first prohibition issued under those authorities, barring a Russia-based cybersecurity company’s U.S. subsidiary from the U.S. market.
At the U.S. Department of Justice, Tony served as Deputy Chief of the Counterterrorism Section, helping lead investigations and prosecutions involving international terrorism and other national-security threats and overseeing classified litigation under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). He also advised as counsel in the Foreign Investment Review Section. Earlier, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, he served as Chief of the Felony Trial Section and as the office’s Export Control Coordinator in the National Security Section. During his tenure in the National Security Section, he investigated and prosecuted terrorism, espionage, export-control violations, sanctions offenses, counterproliferation matters, and other national-security cases involving Iran, China, Libya, and other sensitive destinations. He prosecuted an aircraft-diversion case that resulted in a $15 million penalty from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), then reported as the largest export-enforcement penalty in the agency’s history.
Full Biography →
Debra S.P. Cheng
Of CounselDebra brings more than two decades of experience in export controls, sanctions, and international trade, including senior in-house roles at Salesforce and Caterpillar. At Salesforce, she served as Senior Corporate Counsel and Director of Global Trade Programs and was the company’s lead trade attorney and subject-matter expert for international trade, focusing primarily on Commerce Control List Category 5-related export controls and sanctions.
Previously, as Corporate Counsel for International Trade at Caterpillar, she was a trusted advisor and subject-matter expert on international trade regulatory compliance, including dual-use and munitions requirements, with responsibilities spanning export controls and sanctions, customs, antiboycott, and anti-bribery compliance. Earlier, in McGuireWoods’ International Group, she advised on international business transactions and regulatory and policy matters involving export controls, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issues involving CFIUS, and other international trade and investment matters. Her in-house experience gives clients a practical regulatory perspective shaped by how these rules operate inside global companies.
Full Biography →
Philip R. Kuhn
Director of InvestigationsA former Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, Phil Kuhn brings more than twenty-five years of federal investigative, counterintelligence, and national-security experience to the firm, including service with the Central Intelligence Agency and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. He served in senior leadership positions within OEE, including Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office and Deputy Director of the Export Enforcement Coordination Center, helping coordinate export-enforcement and counterproliferation efforts across the federal government.
Phil also served as an FBI Task Force Officer and spent more than a decade training federal agents and intelligence analysts on export enforcement, counterintelligence, and national-security matters. Having mentored generations of investigators across the federal government, Phil provides clients with practical insight into how federal export-enforcement investigations are developed, coordinated across agencies, and ultimately resolved.
Full Biography →