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Eric Hirschhorn Takes Lead at Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security as Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration

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Monday, March 29, 2010

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Eric Hirschhorn Takes Lead at Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security as Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration

President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint attorney Eric Hirschhorn to be the Under Secretary of the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on Saturday.

"BIS is an integral part of our national security apparatus, and as we move forward in improving and strengthening the means by which we control the exports of U.S. technology, there is no better person than Eric Hirschhorn to lead BIS," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. "Eric has a wealth of experience working with export controls, and I look forward to having him on board as we implement President Obama's vision for reforming the export control system to enhance America's national security."

Hirschhorn is currently a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Winston & Strawn LLP.

Mr. Hirschhorn will oversee the Commerce agency that advances U.S. national security, foreign policy and economic objectives by ensuring an effective export control and treaty compliance system and by promoting U.S. strategic technology leadership.

From 1980 to 1981, Mr. Hirschhorn was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce and oversaw U.S. export controls for items having commercial and military applications, anti-boycott compliance, restraints on imports for national security reasons, as well as the department's participation in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Earlier, while a member of President Jimmy Carter's reorganization project staff (1977-1980), he worked on reorganizing the government's international trade, public diplomacy, and foreign assistance mechanisms. Before working in the executive branch, Mr. Hirschhorn held several congressional staff positions, was in private law practice in New York City, and was a legal services lawyer. Since returning to private law practice in 1981, Mr. Hirschhorn has represented foreign and domestic clients on a wide range of commercial and regulatory matters. His practice includes advising and assisting clients regarding export and embargo regulations, as well as about financing and other aspects of international transactions.

Mr. Hirschhorn is Executive Secretary of the Industry Coalition on Technology Transfer (ICOTT), a group whose trade association and industry participants are affected by U.S. export control and embargo rules. He is the author of The Export Control and Embargo Handbook, whose third edition was published recently by Oxford University Press (second edition, published in 2004), and numerous articles on export controls, embargoes and related topics. Outside the international trade area, Mr. Hirschhorn's practice includes trial and appellate litigation, along with lawyers' professional responsibility matters. He is a member (and former chair) of the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee and is a member (and former chair) of the D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Committee.

He also is a member of the New York City Bar Association and the Thurgood Marshall American Inn of Court. Mr. Hirschhorn received his B.A. degree from the University of Chicago and a J.D. degree from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. BIS controls the export and re-export of dual-use commodities, technology and software for reasons of national security, foreign policy, nuclear nonproliferation, regional stability, and short supply.