Derek Gilman Biography

Derek Gilman focuses on cross-border issues affecting aerospace and defense contractors, including foreign military sales (FMS), Direct Commercial Sales (DCS), Military offsets, export controls, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance, and mergers and acquisitions. He assists US companies doing business abroad and foreign aerospace and defense contractors who wish to conduct business in the United States.

He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Defense and Aerospace Export Council of the US Chamber of Commerce.

Additionally, he was selected by one of the largest global banks to serve as an independent trustee to fulfill US Government Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)-related requirements for a $4 billion multi-jurisdiction, cross-border transaction.

Prior to these roles, Mr. Gilman was a partner with a Washington, DC law firm, where he specialized in international aerospace and defense matters.

From 2011 – 2015, he was General Counsel and Principal Director of the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, where he was chief legal advisor on over $30 billion of government-to-government sales annually. He also served as Chair of the DoD Offsets Working Group and was DoD counsel on numerous high-profile matters, including the US Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) policy, the Arms Trade Treaty, and multi-billion-dollar arms sales, including the largest FMS sale in history. He has worked with the European Commission at the Director General level on issues related to US-EU Member State defense trade.

Prior to that, Mr. Gilman was DoD senior counsel for Afghanistan-Pakistan matters, and served as US Government counsel supporting the “reset” summit with Russia. He was also senior DoD counsel for International Armaments Cooperation, where he participated in the negotiation of treaties and numerous international agreements, including those signed at the Presidential level.

Mr. Gilman was also an Executive Director with Ernst & Young, where he focused on complex international tax matters, and served as counsel with a large law firm, practicing in the areas of business and tax law.

He served in Iraq with the Coalition Provisional Authority where, consistent with UN Security Council Resolutions, and in concert with the IMF, World Bank, Iraqi leadership, and Coalition governments, he supervised the revision of 30 Iraqi laws to enable Iraq to transition to a market economy. He was also principal US advisor on the establishment of the war crimes tribunal that tried Saddam Hussein.

Mr. Gilman is a retired Colonel in the US Army Reserve and is one of the authors of the US DoD Law of War Manual.