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NSI Next Gen Alumni Network Career Forum

NSI Next Gen Alumni Network Career Forum: Career Pathways in National Security Law

The National Security Institute (NSI) was pleased to host the NSI NextGen Alumni Career Forum, an evening program designed to connect current Antonin Scalia Law School students with alumni and practitioners working across key national security–related legal career pathways. The event emphasized practical career insight, candid conversation, and meaningful interaction with experienced practitioners.

Rather than a traditional panel, the forum featured structured, rotating small-group discussions with practitioners representing distinct employer and practice types. All attendees rotated through each discussion group, ensuring exposure to a range of career paths and perspectives.

Each discussion session was 20 minutes in length and informal in style, focusing on:

  • Career trajectories and decision points

  • Early- and mid-career realities

  • Hiring considerations and professional development

  • Lessons learned from practice

The program concluded with a networking reception, providing additional opportunities for conversation and connection.

Career pathways represented:

  • Federal Government – Cordell Hull, Former Acting Undersecretary for Industry & Security, U.S. Department of Commerce

  • In-House – Kelli Andrews, Senior Director for Cybersecurity & Lawful Access Policy, Microsoft

  • Big Law – Alice Fisher, Partner and General Counsel, Latham & Watkins

  • Capitol Hill – Carter Burwell, Former Counsel to Chairman Chuck Grassley and Chief Counsel to Senator John Cornyn

 

 

Speakers: 

Kelli Andrews

Kelli Andrews is Senior Director for Cybersecurity and Lawful Access Policy at Microsoft, where she is responsible for advancing Microsoft’s public policy initiatives in the areas of cybersecurity, cybercrime, lawful access, and encryption in the executive and legislative branches.  Prior to joining Microsoft, Kelli spent almost a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she most recently served as Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel in the National Security Division.  In that role, her portfolio consisted of litigation, policy and legislative matters spanning national security issues including cybersecurity, surveillance technology, counterterrorism and CFIUS.  While at the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Kelli served in several other roles, including as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General and Deputy Chief of the Counterterrorism Section.  Prior to DOJ, Kelli spent several years at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where she served as Deputy Chief of the National Security Law Division.  In addition to her prosecutorial experience, Kelli also has extensive experience on Capitol Hill having worked as Majority Counsel for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for almost five years and as Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Kelli also spent time in private practice at D.C. law firms and began her career as an Assistant State Attorney in Miami, Florida.  She earned a J.D. from Cornell Law School and a B.A. from Bucknell University.

Alice Fisher

Alice Fisher is a partner in Latham & Watkins’ Washington, D.C. office and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. She focuses her practice on white collar criminal investigations, internal investigations, and advises clients on a range of criminal matters, including:

      • International criminal matters relating to alleged bribery under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-corruption laws, economic and export sanctions, and other cross border investigations
  • Criminal and civil fraud matters such as healthcare fraud, accounting and securities fraud, and procurement fraud
  • Government enforcement inquiries and investigations in front of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Consumer Fraud Protection Bureau, and Congress

Ms. Fisher focuses her practice on corporate investigations and enforcement matters and provides strategic counsel to corporations on managing the legal risks of operating in a global economy.

From 2005-2008, Ms. Fisher served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the US DOJ. As Assistant Attorney General, Ms. Fisher led more than 750 attorneys and staff responsible for federal criminal enforcement policy as well as handling criminal matters in federal courts across the country in all areas of federal criminal law enforcement. Under her leadership, the Criminal Division pursued a broad array of federal criminal investigations and prosecutions, with particular focus on corporate fraud matters, including securities fraud, procurement fraud, financial institution fraud, anti-money laundering, healthcare fraud, computer hacking and cyber security, national security, as well as US-domestic and international corruption.

Ms. Fisher also chaired the National Procurement Fraud Task Force, supervised the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and served as a member of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force. She handled various transnational and multi-national law enforcement operations and policies, including bilateral agreements and treaties involving information sharing and global criminal enforcement initiatives. Representing the DOJ in front of Congress, Ms. Fisher testified on criminal enforcement policies and served on the Federal Criminal Rules Committee.

As a litigation partner at Latham from 2003-2005 and prior to 2001, Ms. Fisher represented both individual and corporate clients in grand jury, agency, and congressional inquiries involving allegations of securities and bank fraud, healthcare fraud, the FCPA, criminal antitrust matters, OFAC sanctions, and procurement fraud. She has also represented clients in a number of complex civil and regulatory litigations. Ms. Fisher previously held other positions in government, including Deputy Special Counsel to a US Senate Special Committee.

Ms. Fisher has published articles and spoken on criminal law topics such as the criminalization of corporate conduct, the FCPA, healthcare and procurement fraud, the False Claims Act, the US criminal enforcement environment, public corruption and the honest services statute, financial crime in the financial services industry, securities fraud, identity theft, cybercrime, and national security.

Cordell Hull

Cordell Hull is an executive vice president and Head of U.S. Public Affairs at Samsung, where he leads policy and government relations for the company in the U.S. and Canada.  He is also an adjunct professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School.

His career has been at the intersection of national security and technology.  Before joining Samsung, he was the Head of Trade and Economic Security Policy at Amazon Web Services (AWS). He came to AWS after serving in senior roles with the U.S. government, including as acting Under Secretary for Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce, leading efforts to promote international trade while safeguarding critical U.S. technologies.

While leading the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), in addition to export controls, Cordell had a prominent role in supply chain security, activities with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and investigations into imports for potential national security risk.  He also served at the Department of Commerce as a deputy general counsel, as well as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs.  In those roles, he led the Department’s engagement with congress in the areas of international trade, supply chain security, economic development, and commercial space.

Before his time in the Executive Branch, Cordell served in senior-level positions in the House of Representatives.  While serving as the General Counsel of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, he was responsible for the legal components of the committee’s work across the Intelligence Community.  He was also the committee’s lead on legislative efforts to reform the export control laws and CFIUS authorities.

Cordell began his career as an attorney in private practice, where he focused on government investigations and litigation.

He received his law degree, with honors, from the Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota.

Carter Burwell 

Carter Burwell is partner in the White Collar & Regulatory Defense practice of Debevoise & Plimpton.  His practice focuses on white collar criminal defense, government investigations, and national security, and he has represented large corporations and individuals in various high-stakes matters. His work tends to involve high-profile controversies tied to current events, ongoing political disputes, and underlying and competing policy interests.

Mr. Burwell joined Debevoise in 2021 after more than a decade in senior roles across the federal government. Mr. Burwell served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Finance Intelligence, where he advised on national security matters. Mr. Burwell served as one of the top lawyers on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, including as Chief Counsel to former Assistant Majority Leader John Cornyn and as Counsel to Chairman Chuck Grassley.  Mr. Burwell also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Violent Crime and Terrorism Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) and in the National Security and International Crimes Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA).

Mr. Burwell continues to be involved in national security matters.  He teaches a national security seminar at the University of Texas School of Law and was appointed to the Public Interest Declassification Board. Mr. Burwell earned his J.D. from the University Virginia School of Law, received an M. Phil. from the University of Cambridge and a B.A. from Columbia College. After graduation, he clerked for former U.S. District Judge John Gleeson, and U.S. Circuit Judge Karen Henderson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.