Teresa N. Taylor
Partner
Teresa Taylor draws on a wide-ranging background in regulatory enforcement and white-collar defense to help clients address their most challenging legal matters. Her practice centers on trade sanctions and export controls, including matters involving import-export regulations, national security laws, international trade restrictions, cross-border investigations, foreign corruption, and money laundering.
Clients rely on Teresa to mitigate legal risk and pursue discreet, strategic resolutions. She defends executives, corporations, and their owners in investigations and high-stakes litigation before federal courts and agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory bodies. Her work often spans multiple jurisdictions and enforcement authorities.
Teresa’s experience includes financial services regulation, governance, compliance, and litigation strategy. She has handled matters involving civil appeals, constitutional and administrative law, and emerging areas such as cryptocurrency enforcement. Teresa also advises clients on complex regulatory issues and responses to developments across the legal and enforcement landscape.
Prior to joining Foley, Teresa was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of a national law firm and previously served as a senior attorney at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, IRS. Earlier in her career, she clerked for three U.S. District Court judges in the Western District of Virginia.
Representative Experience
- Representing foreign distributor in U.S. government investigation and internal investigation of alleged AML matter involving North Korea and global business issues.
- Represented a former top five executive of publicly traded telecommunications company Ericsson in a multi-year global investigation of alleged FCPA violations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as foreign proceedings.*
- Represented a consumer electronics company in appellate proceedings before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, eliminating an egregious and maximum multi-million-dollar penalty imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control. Epsilon Elecs., Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury, 857 F.3d 913, 920 (D.C. Cir. 2017).*
- Represented an Iran-based automotive parts manufacturer and its C-suite in criminal and administrative proceedings involving alleged export control violations, including transshipment to Iran, which were resolved through a BIS Settlement Agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce. United States v. Emad-Vaez, et al., No. CR-18-160 (N.D. Cal. 2021); and U.S. Department of Commerce, BIS Settlement Agreement No. 18-BIS-0001, In the Matter of Pouran Aazad, Sadr Emad-Vaez, and Ghareh Sabz Co. (2019).*
- Represented U.S. bar peeler manufacturer and its C-suite in criminal and administrative proceedings. United States v. Oertmann and Hetran, Inc., No. 1:14-cr-00111-YK (W.D. Pa. 2014); and U.S. Department of Commerce, BIS Settlement Agreement, In the Matter of Helmut Oertmann and Hetran, Inc. (2014).*
- Represented a foreign corporate client in a never-before sought writ of mandamus action against the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, resulting in the prompt unfreezing and licensing by OFAC for the complete return to the client of US$1mn in frozen assets stemming from an airplane deal.*
*Matters handled prior to joining Foley.
Affiliations
- Member, FII Institute
- Member, Global Investigations Review
- Member, Union of International Associations (UIA)
- Member, British American Business Association
- Member, IR Global
Community Involvement
- Former executive director and founder, Survivors’ Rights International
- Former adjunct professor, Georgetown University Law Center
Pro Bono
- Former pro bono appeals defense attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender in Manhattan
- Former pro bono appeals prosecutor, Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office
- Former pro bono participant, Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice at the United Nations Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the International Criminal Court
