Theodore Kassinger
Partner
Theodore Kassinger is a partner in O'Melveny's Washington, DC office. He co-chairs the International Trade practice and is also a member of the firm's Strategic Counseling practice. Ted counsels U.S. and foreign clients engaged in transnational business transactions, with an emphasis on international trade and investment regulatory matters, strategies to secure access to foreign markets, and disputes resolution. Calling on his more than 28 years of private practice and government experience, he also provides public affairs advocacy and strategic counseling advice on a wide range of policy matters.
Ted joined the firm after serving as the Deputy Secretary (2004-2005) and General Counsel (2001-2004) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. As Deputy Secretary, he served as the Department's chief operating officer, with responsibility for the day-to-day management of the approximately $6.2 billion budget, 13 operating units, and 39,000 employees. The Department's varied missions include promoting U.S. exports, administering unfair trade laws, and negotiating and enforcing international trade agreements; serving as effective stewards of the nation's ocean, coastal, and living marine resources; formulating technology and telecommunications policy and administering the federal radio frequency spectrum; administering the patent and trademark system; and developing and applying technologies, measurements, and standards. As the second-ranking Department official, Ted oversaw programmatic development and implementation of those missions and represented the Department in senior policymaking councils of the Administration and before Congress.
As General Counsel, Ted served as the Department's chief legal and ethics officer. His responsibilities included determining legal positions taken by the Department in significant litigation, administrative, legislative, and policy matters; supervision of the Department's ethics program; and management of the nearly 300 lawyers who advise and represent the Department on legal and ethics matters. Among other responsibilities, he co-chaired the Commercial Law Working Group of the United States — China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.
Upon the conclusion of his tenure at the Commerce Department, Ted received the Secretary of Commerce's William C. Redfield Award, the Department's highest honor.
From 1985 to 2001, Ted practiced law with another major international law firm, following earlier service as an attorney with the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Ted is Chairman of the U.S. Department of State's Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves as a member of the Board of the Earth Conservation Corps.
Ted has been named by
Chambers USA as a leading practitioner in the area of international trade (CFIUS and Trade Remedies & Trade Policy).
His private practice and government service have provided him with exceptionally broad and deep experience in international legal matters. He has advised and represented clients involved in:
- international trade administrative proceedings and litigation
- the development and implementation of transnational corporate compliance programs
- cross-border internal investigations
- domestic and international business and corporate finance transactions, including project financings; joint ventures; privatizations; mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions; and securitizations
- international commercial arbitrations and investor-state disputes
- other matters involving private and public international law
His subject area experience includes:
- antidumping, countervailing duty, "escape clause," "Section 301," other international trade regulatory proceedings
- intergovernmental negotiations and public policy advocacy concerning international trade, investment, and other matters
- market access disputes
- export control and economic sanctions regulations
- restrictions on foreign investment (including defense-related acquisitions and matters coming before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States)
- government export and development assistance programs (including trade and investment finance and political risk insurance programs)
- issues arising under the antiboycott laws and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
- customs matters
- judicial appeals arising from agency decisions concerning these matters
Professional Activities
Member, Board of Advisors of the Dean Rusk Center for International, Comparative and Graduate Legal Studies at the University of Georgia School of Law
Author, “The Trade Agenda of the 98th Congress,” Federal Bar News and Journal (1983); “Antidumping Duty Investigations,” Law and Practice of U.S. International Trade Regulation (1987, 1989); and chapters on GATT Antidumping, Procurement, Standards, and Subsidies Codes in Basic Documents of International Economic Law, (CCH International and Westlaw 1990)
Co-Author, ”Antidumping Duty Investigations,” Law and Practice of United States International Trade Regulation, Oceana Publications (1996 update); “Commercial Law Reform Issues in the Reconstruction of Iraq,” 33 Ga. J. Int'l & Comp. L. J. 217 (2004)
Honors, Named by the University of Georgia School of Law as its 2006 Carl E. Sanders Political Leadership Scholar