Julie Edelstein is a partner in the firm’s Washington, DC office and is a member of the Litigation Department and the International Trade Compliance and White Collar Practice Groups. Julie is a former federal prosecutor with extensive experience in counterintelligence and export controls. Her practice focuses on representing and advising clients on government investigations and criminal and civil matters involving national security.

Julie previously worked at the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, National Security Division (NSD) of the Department of Justice (DOJ). There she served as Acting Principal Deputy Chief, Deputy Chief for Counterintelligence, and as a trial attorney. Julie also served as DOJ’s Coordinator for the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an initiative co-led by DOJ and the Department of Commerce to counter the threat posed by acquisition of sensitive, advanced technologies by nation-state adversaries. In these roles, Julie supervised investigations and prosecutions nationwide involving counterintelligence statutes, including the Espionage Act, Economic Espionage Act, and Atomic Energy Act and cases involving classified information.

The cases Julie prosecuted at NSD included numerous sensitive and high-profile cases involving espionage, economic espionage, unauthorized disclosures and mishandling of classified information, the illegal export of military and strategic commodities and technology, and cyberattacks and intrusions affecting national security. In such prosecutions, she coordinated with the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, and other government agencies. During her tenure at NSD and while serving for a Special Counsel, Julie also worked on investigations of presidential candidates and the prosecution of a former president.

Before joining the NSD, Julie also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and clerked for the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat, Eleventh Circuit in Jacksonville, FL, and The Honorable James T. Giles and Joel H. Slomsky, U.S.D.C., E.D. Pa., in Philadelphia, PA.  She started her career at an international law firm in Washington, DC as an Associate in their Defense, National Security, and Government Contracts & Litigation group.

Julie is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, cum laude, and Yale University, where she earned her B.A. cum laude in Ethics, Politics, and Economics. While at UPenn Law, she received several honors including recognition as a Silverman-Rodin Scholar and a regional semi-finalist in the National Moot Court competition. She also served as a Senior Editor and the Philanthropy Chair for the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

Julie is an avid runner and enjoys running 10-milers and half marathons.