ADAM RAVIV co-leads the Automotive and Mobility practice and focuses on regulatory matters and dispute resolution. Having served in a variety of senior political appointments in government, including as chief counsel of the primary federal regulator of the U.S. auto industry, he can leverage his experience to represent clients in matters involving automotive safety and fuel economy, including enforcement, litigation, compliance, and the federal rulemaking process. Adam also has extensive experience in international arbitration and commercial and regulatory litigation. In addition, he represents and advises clients on the nomination and appointment process and advises both corporate and individual clients on government ethics and attorney professional responsibility issues.
Most recently, Adam served as chief counsel at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In that role, he led the 45-member legal department and was the second-ranking official at the 800-employee agency, an operating administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. NHTSA is the primary regulator of the U.S. automotive industry and one of the most active regulatory and rulemaking agencies in the federal government. Adam acted as a leader in all aspects of the agency’s legal, executive, and policy functions. During his service, the agency issued numerous high-profile rulemakings setting nationwide standards on vehicle safety and fuel economy, including a first-of-its-kind regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles, a final rule on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) for light vehicles, the first major updates in more than a decade to the agency’s Five-Star safety rating programs, and new standards on automatic emergency braking, seat belt reminders, hydrogen-powered vehicles, electric vehicle batteries, recall notification requirements, and the agency’s whistleblower program. Adam also oversaw a variety of enforcement and litigation matters, including vehicle recalls, investigations, regulatory exemption petitions, and cybersecurity issues. Among other resolutions, during his time at NHTSA, the agency reached the largest enforcement settlement in its history, and also a highly publicized consent order with an autonomous vehicle company. As chief counsel, Adam also issued public interpretations of agency regulations and was heavily involved in issuing hundreds of millions of dollars of grant funding annually to state and local governments, press campaigns, legislative assistance, Congressional oversight, procurement, and personnel matters.
Before joining NHTSA, Adam served as senior counsel in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). As part of the front office of DOJ’s largest litigating component, he oversaw and advised on many of the most sensitive and high-profile matters handled by the Civil Division’s 1,200 attorneys and United States Attorney’s Offices across the country. These matters included litigation over major legislative and policy initiatives; enforcement actions against major technology companies; mass tort cases arising out of front-page controversies; matters arising out of the opioid epidemic; major tariff disputes; industry challenges to the Medicare drug pricing negotiation law; immigration litigation; and Congressional oversight. Adam worked closely with the Civil Division’s leadership, the office of the Attorney General and other Department leaders, various other components of the Department, and client agencies throughout the government.
Earlier, as senior ethics counsel in the White House, Adam served as lead ethics attorney for the White House vetting team. In that role, he advised White House leadership on government ethics and financial disclosure issues, vetting and working with hundreds of potential nominees and appointees to senior administration roles throughout the government, and conceiving and implementing administration-wide ethics policies.
Before entering government, Adam spent over a decade at another major international law firm, and also taught an annual course in international arbitration as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School . He clerked for The Honorable Stanley Marcus on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Adam has published widely in a variety of professional areas, and his writing has won awards and been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.