Tatman Ryder Savio counsels clients on U.S. law and policy affecting international trade and business, including export control laws, sanctions programs, foreign investment laws, anticorruption laws, and antiboycott regulations.

Practice & Background

As a member of the firm’s international trade practice, Ms. Savio has assisted clients in a diverse range of industries, including high technology, aerospace, energy, defense, agriculture, mining, engineering and construction, logistics and freight forwarding, and venture capital and private equity. In particular, she has helped clients conduct internal investigations related to potential export control and sanctions violations and prepare voluntary disclosures pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the regulations of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In addition, Ms. Savio drafts and submits license applications, advisory opinion requests, classification requests and commodity jurisdiction requests to relevant U.S. government agencies, including the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, OFAC and the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Ms. Savio manages national security reviews conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) under the Exon-Florio law. Moreover, she analyzes trade policy initiatives that intersect with her clients’ business interests, including pending federal and state legislation and executive branch actions involving sanctions and foreign investment reviews. Finally, Ms. Savio’s practice involves the assessment, design and implementation of international trade compliance programs.

Prior to joining Akin Gump, Ms. Savio clerked for the Honorable Lawrence E. Meyers of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She also served as a summer law clerk on the House Committee on Homeland Security and worked as an intelligence analyst at the National Security Agency.

Ms. Savio received her B.A. with highest distinction in political and social thought in 2000 from the University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar and elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her J.D. with honors in 2005 from the University of Texas School of Law, where she served on the Texas International Law Journal and represented clients though the law school’s Capital Punishment Clinic.

Community Involvement

Ms. Savio is a member of the following organizations:

  • Association of Women in International Trade, Co-Chair of the Europe Committee
  • American Bar Association’s Section of International Law
  • Washington International Trade Association.

Speaking Engagements

  • “The Roles and Relationships of Nuclear Trade Controls Agencies: Who Does What & How to Stay on Their Good Side,” American Conference Institute’s Nuclear Export Controls Conference, March 27, 2012
  • “Export Controls and Sanctions, Washington International Trade Association and the George Washington University International Trade and Investment Program Intensive Trade Seminar,” September 23, 2011
  • “The Anatomy of a U.S. Sanctions Program: An Introduction to the Iranian Transactions Regulations,” CLE, The Iranian American Bar Association, February 2010.