Erich Ferrari

Leaders in Law endorses Erich Ferrari as our exclusively recommended Economic Sanctions Law expert in the USA – Washington. If you wish to get in touch with Erich please use the contact information provided above.

As the Founder and Principal Attorney of Ferrari & Associates, P.C., Mr. Ferrari represents U.S. and foreign corporations, financial institutions, exporters, insurers, as well as private individuals in trade compliance, regulatory licensing matters, and federal investigations and prosecutions. He frequently represents clients before the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and in federal courts around the country. With over 13 years of experience in national security law, exports control, and U.S. economic sanctions, he counsels across industry sectors representing parties in a wide range of matters from ensuring compliance to defending against federal prosecutions and pursuing federal appeals.

Mr. Ferrari’s representations before OFAC frequently involve matters involving the Iran, Ukraine-/Russia-related, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Counter-Terrorism, and the Counter Narcotics sanctions programs. As part of these representations, he has worked to have names removed from OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), respond to OFAC administrative subpoenas issued during the course of an OFAC investigation, procure OFAC specific licenses to engage in transactions prohibited by OFAC, draft OFAC voluntary self-disclosures, develop and implement OFAC compliance programs for financial institutions and multi-national companies, and provide general counseling on OFAC related matters to a variety of client.

Mr. Ferrari has served as lead trial counsel on a number of complex federal criminal matters. He is a seasoned litigator that has obtained mistrials and acquittals for his clients in various matters including prosecutions for smuggling, and International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) based export control charges. He has also successfully handled mail and wire fraud cases, tax fraud cases, money laundering cases, espionage cases, economic sanctions criminal cases, and federal criminal appeals. These representations have occurred in various courts across the United States and involved both U.S. and international clientele.

Mr. Ferrari’s litigation experience includes numerous lawsuits against OFAC arising from blocking both of assets, as well as those targeting parties under various sanctions authorities. In addition, he has extensive experience representing parties in federal criminal prosecutions, including those involving export control and sanctions violations. He has also represented clients in other litigation including, for instance, federal civil forfeiture proceedings.

Mr. Ferrari actively writes on OFAC-administered trade sanctions on his blog at sanctionlaw.com as well as for publication. In addition, he is often called upon by media outlets to speak on U.S. trade sanctions issues and has been interviewed on OFAC-related issues by CNN, The New York Times, The Washington, Post, Forbes Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal.

Firm Description:

At Ferrari & Associates, we are known for providing well-versed legal representation for federal and international criminal offenses, and for matters that fall under the jurisdiction of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), including U.S. economic and trade sanctions. This area of law is very specific and requires the guidance of lawyers who possesses a clear understanding of the policies behind the laws and how OFAC operates. Our team of experienced OFAC attorneys has the resources and legal insight necessary to represent clients across the nation and around the world with any OFAC-related matter.

Providing Skilled & Passionate OFAC Representation on a global scale.

Our firm is located in Washington D.C.-directly across the street from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, home to OFAC- but we are able to engage in all OFAC matters on a national and international scale. As a boutique firm with a high success rate, we have achieved favorable outcomes for 80% of the people that we represented from the OFAC SDN List. We have successfully unblocked millions of dollars within the sanctions program, and we have had IEEPA charges dropped against high-profile clients.

We also provide compliance counsel for large companies, including foreign businesses and insurance companies. As a sophisticated practice at the forefront of OFAC law, we understand the system from an operational perspective and we know how to use this knowledge to the advantage of our clients.

The legal insight of our firm’s founding OFAC attorney has been sought by various media outlets and featured in publications such as:

• NPR
• The New York Times
• Bloomberg News
• The Huffington Post
• PBS Tehran Bureau

If you are currently dealing with a complex legal matter or need legal guidance with an OFAC-related issue, please do not hesitate to contact us as soon as possible. We will do everything possible to help you resolve your imposed sanctions so you can continue working towards achieving your business goals.

We’re not just OFAC lawyers- we strive to be thought leaders in the field of U.S. economic sanctions.