Wiggin and Dana LLP announced today that Alan Levesque has joined the firm’s Washington D.C. office as a partner in the Litigation Department and International Trade Compliance practice. Levesque has served the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry for more than 30 years. His prior and current work includes serving as the Chief Compliance Officer for one of the world’s largest A&D companies, serving as a government-appointed monitor for one of the world’s largest industrial companies, leading two major A&D companies through challenging export consent agreements, conducting CFIUS audits for global hi-tech companies, plus countless instances of helping companies of all sizes with complex regulatory and enforcement issues.

“Alan is the attorney you go to when your company is facing an existential threat,” said David A. Ring, co-chair of Wiggin and Dana’s International Trade Compliance practice. “He brings years of practical perspective to the most serious export and compliance issues. Alan has built compliance programs from the inside for companies under intense government scrutiny. He has worked directly with regulators, including in his role as Special Compliance Officer (SCO) for the U.S. State Department. And he understands the challenges of driving change management through highly complex global companies. I can’t imagine a more complementary fit to our practice group, which has represented numerous companies under consent agreements over the years and is comprised of lawyers with deep in-house experience.”

“Alan makes us one of the only firms in the country—if not the only—that now has multiple lawyers who have, and are, serving as State Department monitors for aerospace and defense companies,” Ring added. “Our combined experience with State Department consent agreements, coupled with our unique in-house experience, allows us to provide clients with critical strategic counseling plus boots-on-the-ground support.”

Wiggin and Dana’s highly respected International Trade Compliance practice is composed of Washington D.C.-based attorneys with high-level in-house legal and government service credentials. These include David H. Laufman, former Chief of Counterintelligence and Export Controls at the U.S. Department of Justice and leading member of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) bar; David Ring, former Department of Justice attorney and former Global Head of Compliance Investigations at United Technologies; veteran OFAC, export controls, and CFIUS counselor, Tahlia Townsend, who is known for representing foreign clients on cutting edge regulatory issues; and former Department of Justice attorney David L. Hall.

“No other firm can match the practical in-house experience, technical skill and industry knowledge of our International Trade Compliance team,” said Tim Diemand, Wiggin and Dana’s managing partner. “Companies of all sizes from all over the world trust us to provide practical, effective, and business-sensitive guidance on the entire range of export, financial sanctions, anti-corruption, foreign investment, and other global trade issues. Alan advances the strategic growth of our team and of the Washington, D.C., office. We are delighted to welcome Alan to Wiggin and Dana’s D.C. office.”  

“Wiggin and Dana is well known to me,” said Levesque. “I worked with Wiggin while in-house and quickly grew to rely on the team’s high-quality and practical advice, insights, and problem-solving skills. There are plenty of lawyers who can opine about trade compliance, but Wiggin and Dana knows how to solve real-world problems. I am excited to join the team.”

Alan earned his J.D. at Columbia University and B.S. at the U.S. Military Academy. He completed the Army’s Ranger and Airborne schools and served as an artillery officer.