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David Greenlees

Portrait photo of David Greenlees of Greenlees Global Advisors LLC.
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EDUCATION

  • JD, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

  • BA, George Washington University


BAR ADMISSIONS

  • State Bar of California

  • State Bar of Michigan

  • District of Columbia Bar

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California

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APPOINTMENTS

  • U.S. Department of State, Defense Trade Advisory Group (2024-26)

  • Special Compliance Officer, Island Pyrochemical Industries Corp. Consent Agreement (2023)

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AFFILIATIONS

  • Society for International Affairs, Member, Speaker, Conference Committee

  • Disabled American Veterans, Life Member

David Greenlees is an international trade compliance consultant and President of Greenlees Global Advisors LLC. He has more than 30 years’ experience in government and the private-sector with an emphasis on international trade, defense, and national security. As a litigation attorney, David has provided advice and counseling regarding the laws and regulations pertaining to export controls, intellectual property, and criminal law. Skilled at engaging with government regulators, policy makers, and industry leaders, David has a track record of providing creative and sustainable solutions to the complex challenges that exist in an ever-changing regulatory framework.  

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David served for eight years as a Senior Compliance Specialist at the U.S. Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC). In that role, he was responsible for overseeing foreign government and defense industry compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). David regularly coordinated with the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the Intelligence Community (IC) on reviews of unauthorized exports to assess harm to national security. He assisted Federal law enforcement agencies conducting parallel criminal investigations of Arms Export Control Act (AECA) violations. He participated in dozens of domestic and overseas site visits to assess each facility’s ITAR compliance posture and provided constructive feedback to illustrate compliance best practices. David negotiated the administrative settlement of AECA and ITAR violations with industry and provided post-settlement monitoring and support for four consent agreements.  

  

David is a retired U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel and has significant experience as a field artillery officer in both peacetime and combat operations around the globe. In his last active-duty assignment, he served as the Operations Officer in the Marine Corps’ Office of Legislative Affairs and regularly briefed members of Congress, senior executives, and flag officers on a wide variety of issues. He frequently escorted Congressional delegations on overseas missions to critically important locations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.    

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David has broad legal experience in state, federal, and foreign courts and has served as a criminal defense attorney, legislative counsel, intellectual property litigation attorney, and a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego, California. ​

Testimonials
Image by Pedro Lastra

Selected Professional 

Experience

- During his tenure at DDTC, he reviewed and resolved more than 500 voluntary disclosures and anonymous tips of alleged ITAR violations and managed four consent agreements with civil penalties totaling $39M. - He was instrumental in implementing the State Department’s revised policy for rescission of statutory debarment of persons convicted of violating the AECA, pursuant to ITAR § 127.7(b), and recognized by the Assistant Secretary for this achievement. - While serving on Capitol Hill, David planned, coordinated, and escorted Congressional Delegation travel with the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), for fact-finding missions to locations around the world. - David served as a member of both the Defense Department’s Guam Defense Policy Review Initiative (DPRI) team and the U.S. Marine Corps’ Land Acquisition Strategy Operational Planning team, maintaining oversight of issues related to military construction, environmental impacts, land disputes, family housing, barracks, airspace, and training ranges. - In his role as Chief Senate Legal Counsel to the Republic of Palau, David was influential in Palau’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. He successfully negotiated the dismissal of a criminal complaint filed by a special prosecutor against five elected officials, served as Counsel to the 38th General Assembly of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union, and was a delegate to the 116th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Bali, Indonesia. - While serving as a litigation attorney at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, he assisted a publicly-held global provider of wireless communications products in safeguarding its trade secrets, aided a privately-owned company in its efforts to secure European patents for its smart antenna technology, defended a company sued by a Fortune 100 company under the Federal CAN-SPAM Act, and represented a privately-owned software company in litigation stemming from false labeling of their product as adware/spyware. - During his tenure as a San Diego Deputy District Attorney, David was the lead prosecutor for 22 jury trials and 173 felony preliminary hearings. He negotiated pleas with opposing counsel, garnering 55 felony convictions and was the recipient of the District Attorney’s “Citizens of Courage Award.”

Speaking Engagements 

- U.S.- Netherlands Defense Trade & Export Compliance Dialogue, 2022, The Hague, Netherlands - Export Enforcement Coordination Center, 2022, Vienna, Virginia - Saudi Defense Technology Security Committee, 2022, Washington, D.C. - U.S. Department of State, 2020 Directorate of Defense Trade Controls Seminar, Washington, D.C. - American University, 2019 Anti-Corruption, Anti-Bribery, Export Controls & Sanctions Summit, Washington, D.C. - U.S. Department of State, 2018 Foreign Embassies Defense Trade Controls Seminar, Washington, D.C. - Society for International Affairs, 2018 Spring Conference, Denver, Colorado - Instituut Defensie Leergangen, 2016 ITAR Compliance Seminar, Rijswijk, Netherlands - Société Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques, 2016, Brussels, Belgium - Confederation of Netherlands' Industry and Employers, 2016 ITAR Compliance Seminar, The Hague, Netherlands - Netherlands Ministry of Defence, 2015-2017 Defense Trade Controls Seminars, The Hague, Netherlands - Headquarters, Royal Netherlands Air Force, 2015-2017 ITAR Compliance Seminars, Breda, Netherlands

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