Gordon Sung

Counsel
Gordon is Counsel in the San Francisco office of ArentFox Schiff LLP. He advises clients on emerging technology and advanced mobility regulatory, enforcement, and litigation matters.
Gordon Sung

As the former U.S. General Counsel of one of the top international autonomous vehicle (“AV”) companies in the industry, Gordon has a deep understanding of the regulatory issues framing autonomous driving technology.  He regularly advises advanced mobility clients including AV and electric vehicle manufacturers, sensor makers, ride-hailing and logistics technology companies, and online retailers.

Throughout his career, he has helped clients before a wide range of regulators, prosecutors, and agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), United States Department of Justice (DOJ), United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), California Department of Motor Vehicles, California Public Utilities Commission, California Department of Justice, Arizona Department of Transportation, and various other state attorney generals. In addition, he has navigated complex issues related to international advanced technology development, particularly China, including national security, export control, data security and privacy issues.

Gordon also provides outside general counsel services to startup and technology companies.

Client Work

Gordon’s representative matters include:

  • Represent automotive clients in defense against California Department of Justice formal Accusations before the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Automotive Repair, concerning alleged violations of automotive repair regulations.   
  • NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) enforcement investigations and voluntary recall matters concerning alleged driverless AV technology defects.
  • International Tier-1 supplier in a major NHTSA ODI investigation and enforcement action concerning airbag inflator ruptures.
  • Advise AV technology companies with regulatory and compliance matters in connection with deployment expansion.
  • Advise ride-hailing technology companies on licensing and regulatory compliance matters.
  • Advise EV makers on product regulatory issues including telematics and repair technology.
  • Advise online retailers with complex regulatory issues related to multi-state vehicle sales.
  • Obtaining various driverless AV testing and robotaxi licenses including in California and Arizona, AV regulations compliance matters, and AV license suspension and revocation issues.
  • Supply and co-development agreements for AV technology, including specialized cameras, image processing chips, FPGA, firmware and software tool kids, Drive-By-Wire (DBW) technology, and related intellectual property strategy issues.   
  • An international hedge fund in parallel market manipulation investigations by the SEC and HK SFC concerning alleged “short and distort” trading strategies and related civil defamation action in New York State Supreme Court
  • Represented internet lending and financial technology companies in a TRO lawsuit against New York banking regulators and expedited appeal to the Second Circuit. Named a “Banking Case to Watch 2014” by Law360
  • Represented a financial professional in criminal tax evasion charges in the SDNY, resulting in a non-prosecution agreement.
  • Wide range of complex breach of contract, judgment enforcement, business tort, and other commercial litigation in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern District of New York, and New York Commercial Division.

Publications

Previous Work

Prior to joining ArentFox Schiff, Gordon served as the U.S. General Counsel of top international AV companies in the industry for almost 4 years, where he built and led the U.S. legal department and government relations function. In addition, Gordon led the company’s $462M Series C funding round and $267M Series C+ round. Previously, he served as Lead U.S. Commercial Counsel and Acting-Lead U.S. Privacy Counsel for the U.S. subsidiary of an Asian automotive OEM, and Senior Associate in the White Collar and Commercial Litigation Groups in the New York office of a major international law firm.  During law school, he interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, the New York Attorney General’s Office, Special Litigation Counsel, and a Federal Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of New York.

Perspectives