Opher draws on his almost 25 years of experience as a government official, including senior positions at the departments of Commerce and Justice working on high profile national security and cross-border matters, to advise clients on cutting-edge issues.

Leveraging this regulatory and prosecutorial experience, Opher is uniquely qualified to counsel clients on corporate compliance and due diligence efforts pertaining to the statutes and regulations addressing export controls, sanctions, information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chain, anti-boycott, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, national security, cybersecurity and other related matters. Those issues relate to, for example:

• The Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
• Economic sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
• International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
• National security reviews conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
• The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
• The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Opher similarly is uniquely positioned to conduct internal investigations, advise on disclosure issues, resolve disputes with government agencies and defend clients in related white collar criminal matters.

His extensive experience in government service handling complex investigations and prosecutions, as well as his deep knowledge of regulatory matters including export controls and economic sanctions, enables him to provide clients with comprehensive and effective legal representation.

Opher most recently served as Chief Counsel for BIS, managing a team of over 25 attorneys in all aspects of regulatory and enforcement matters, where he played a key role across BIS programs. Acting as the Department’s lead counsel on BIS matters, Opher was significantly involved in the agency’s high-profile export control-related regulatory changes and enforcement actions. That work included a lead role in some of the agency’s most prominent enforcement matters to date, including the largest standalone civil penalty in BIS history. Opher also led the legal review of high-profile changes to the EAR affecting semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, among other areas. Opher received numerous accolades in recognition of his notable contributions, including the Commerce Department’s Gold Medal Award for personal and professional excellence.

Prior to being recruited to join Commerce, Opher served as the National Security and Cyber Crime Coordinator at the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. Opher assisted U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country to address a variety of cutting-edge issues in those areas, with a particular focus on matters involving advanced technologies. To further those efforts, Opher regularly worked with high-ranking officials throughout the Department of Justice and other key agencies. 

Opher also served, both as a line prosecutor and supervisor, for approximately 15 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia where he prosecuted a wide range of cases, including a number of high-profile matters. Opher most recently served in that Office as a Senior Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Office’s National Security Section where, among other cases, he was responsible for investigating and prosecuting a variety of complex terrorism, export control and cyber-facilitated crimes. Opher was designated the Office’s National Security Cyber Specialist in 2016. Opher repeatedly briefed the Attorney General and other senior national security and law enforcement officials on matters of the utmost sensitivity, and received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, among other accolades.

As an experienced trial attorney with the proven ability to handle deeply regulatory matters in the litigation context, Opher trained numerous national security and law enforcement officials across the government on an array of topics, including trial practice and novel substantive issues.

Opher began his legal career as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of an international law firm, handling complex litigation at the trial and appellate levels.