Legal and Compliance

The IEEE Legal and Compliance Department is composed of five lawyers and four additional professionals, including two paralegals. The department is dedicated to the protection of the rights and the limitation of liabilities on IEEE, and its employees, members, and volunteers who engage in activities sponsored by, or on behalf of, IEEE. 

The goal of the Legal and Compliance department is to provide quality legal services in-house by professionals who are intimately familiar with the mission, activities, and business operations and opportunities of IEEE.

As a part of its broader mandate, the department:

• Promotes the enhancement of the reputation and profile of IEEE worldwide through its amicus curiae briefs, filed in third-party legal cases, where the IEEE Board of Directors determines that such filings serve to support the mission of IEEE.
• Provides strategic advice of a commercial and policy nature to the IEEE Board of Directors, its standing committees, ad hoc committees, and organizational units.
• Represents IEEE in legal discussions with various government agencies around the world.

On a day-to-day basis, the Legal and Compliance Department provides advice and documentation relating to:

• Intellectual property matters
• Commercial contracts and business arrangements
• Corporate structures and registrations
• Compliance with laws, rules, and regulations applicable to IEEE and its related entities

The department also provides legal advice relating to:

• The Code of Conduct
• The Code of Ethics
• The various compliance-related policies adopted by IEEE

The Legal and Compliance Department is supported by outside law firms that are engaged by the members of the department to provide advice on specialized areas of the law, such as tax, immigration, litigation, and the laws of the 189 other countries where IEEE has operations outside of the United States.

Only members of the Legal and Compliance Department are authorized to engage outside counsel. Please refer all legal questions to the department for further handling and resolution.

If you are contacted by a lawyer representing a party who is engaged in a matter involving IEEE or any of its organizational units, please contact the Legal and Compliance Department immediately.

• For general compliance questions regarding IEEE, please email compliance@ieee.org.
• Concerns about inappropriate financial activity involving IEEE business or compliance with IEEE Principles of Business Conduct/Conflict of Interest may be anonymously reported.