He joins firm's Washington office
International law firm White & Case has welcomed David Lim, the co-director of a US Department of Justice task force, to its team in Washington as a partner, said Reuters.
As the co-director of the KleptoCapture Task Force beginning on July 2023, Lim had been vital in enforcing the US sanctions against Russia as the country began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the Department of Justice last February, the task force managed to capture almost $700 million in assets and had charged more than 70 people for the violation of international sanctions and export controls.
Apart from his contributions to the task force, Lim had also helped in securing about $3.9 billion in penalty payments by European plane maker Airbus over allegations regarding global bribery. He had also been the co-leader of a criminal case against Huawei Technologies for the alleged theft of trade secrets as well as the violation of US sanctions against Iran.
Speaking about joining White & Case, Lim told Reuters in an interview that he was keen on continuing his work on export controls and sanctions as it was what he was genuinely passionate in. He added that he wanted to join a firm that had a strong international presence.
Notably, White & Case used to have Russia as a prominent client before their invasion of Ukraine began. It had been defending Russia in a lawsuit that was brought by shareholders of the now defunct Yukos oil company.
Following Russia’s invasion, White & Case had tried to exit the litigation but failed to do so as Russia had opposed the firm’s withdrawal. The firm also stated in July 2022 that it could not exit the case without breaching its obligations surrounding client ethics.
Currently, the case is now proceeding before the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. A White & Case spokesperson stated that another firm was representing Russia in the appeal.
