Hdeel Abdelhady
Principal
+1 (202) 630-2512
Hdeel Abdelhady is MassPoint PLLC’s founder and principal. She focuses on international trade, namely sanctions, emerging technologies export controls, foreign investment in the United States (CFIUS), anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering. Ms. Abdelhady frequently handles matters involving recent and emerging regulation of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing.
Ms. Abdelhady created and a one-of-a-kind law school course on Regulation of Foreign Access to U.S. Technology, covering the continuum of key laws, regulations, and policies designed ultimately to maintain U.S. technological leadership in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and advanced semiconductors– from foreign investment in the United States to export controls and sanctions.She currently teaches the course at The George Washington University Law School, were she has served part-time as a Professorial Lecturer in Law for 20 years.
Prior to founding MassPoint PLLC, Ms. Abdelhady practiced law with two major U.S.-based law firms, and has served as secondment counsel to two banks, both in Washington, D.C. and in Dubai. In those roles, she worked as in-house secondment and outside counsel to banks on cross-border trade finance involving jurisdictions in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and on anti-money laundering/anti-financial crime compliance, including in the context of an early and significant USA Patriot Act enforcement.
Ms. Abdelhady publishes frequently in her areas of practice and academic instruction. Her writings on sanctions, emerging technologies, and other topics have appeared in, among other publications, the World Bank Legal Review, Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, the Sustainable Law and Development Journal, Law360, Reuters, and Ahram Online.
Appointments & Honors
- Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
- Member, Board of Directors, Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists, DC Chapter
- Member, ABA Task Force on Gatekeeper Regulation and the Profession
- MassPoint PLLC, Corporate Law Firm of the Year, USA, Finance Monthly Global Awards
- Corporate: M&A and Governance, Who’s Who Legal 2016
- Past Co-Chair, ABA Middle East Committee
Admissions
District of Columbia; Virginia; Maryland; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Education
JD, The George Washington University Law School
- Member, Moot Court Executive Board
- Chairwoman, Van Vleck Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition
- “Best Overall Competitor” and Best Oral Argument awards, Van Vleck Constitutional Law Moot Court competition
- Class of 2002 Clinics Volunteer Service Award
- President, Street Law Student Association
- Law Clerk, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
BA; Political Science, History (Middle East and Africa), University of Pittsburgh
Hdeel Abdelhady's Publications
- Nippon-U.S. Steel Case Tests Executive Authority, Judicial Scope, Law360, February 2025.
- OFAC Highlights the Importance of Integrating IP Address and KYC Data in Sanctions Compliance, MassPoint PLLC, June 2023.
- U.S. blocking and non-blocking sanctions on Russia to be felt widely, Reuters, March 2022.
- How Tech Race Bill Expands CFIUS Purview To Academia, Law360, May 2021.
- Amid COVID-19, OFAC exempts medicines, PPE, other items from sanctions on Iranian manufacturing, Reuters, June 2020.
- China’s Expanded Export Controls Complicate TikTok Divestment, Potentially Trigger Unprecedented Legal Scenario, MassPoint PLLC August 2020
- OFAC Asserts Jurisdiction Over Foreign Transactions Involving U.S. Origin Software and Telecommunications Hardware, Law360, March 2020.
- OFAC’s Expanded Sanctions Reporting Rules: Analysis and Public Comment, Money Laundering News, July 2019.
- Foreign Investment, National Security, and Personal Data: Grindr’s Perfect Storm, MassPoint PLLC, May 2019.
- Tech War: U.S. Whole-of-Government Approach to China is a Force Multiplier, MassPoint PLLC, May 2019.
- Trade-Based Debt is Subject to Russia Sectoral Sanctions Prohibitions (Haverly Systems), MassPoint PLLC, May 2019.
- Huawei, Questions About Ownership, and the Foreign Agents Registration Act, MassPoint PLLC, April 2019.
- Reimposed U.S. Anti-Iran Sanctions Leverage American Economic Power, Reuters, November 2018.
- Trade Wars: Restrictions on Foreign Access to U.S. Technology, Hdeel Abdelhady in Law360, October 2018.
- Global Magnitsky: The Swiss Army Knife of Sanctions, Law360, August 2018.
- U.S. Law as Trade War Weapon, Law360, May 2018.
- How the Trump Administration Supercharged Global Magnitsky Corruption and Human Rights Sanctions, MassPoint PLLC April 2018.
- From Sergei Magnitsky to Global Magnitsky: United States Asserts Universal Jurisdiction Over Corruption and Human Rights Abuses, MassPoint PLLC, March 2018.
- New U.S. Sanctions Are a Powerful Weapon Against Corruption and Human Rights Abuse Worldwide, MassPoint PLLC, March 2018.
- United States Adds Russian Direct Investment Fund, Other Russian Financial Services Actors to Sectoral Sanctions List, MassPoint PLLC August 2015.
- A Great BRIC Wall? Emerging Trade and Finance Channels Led by Non-Western Nations Could Curtail the Global Reach of U.S. Law, MassPoint PLLC, June 2015.
- 5 Legal and Business Issues to Watch in 2017 (Post-Election), MassPoint PLLC, January 6, 2017.
- Proposals to Curb Foreign Investment in the United States Gaining Steam After the U.S. Election, MassPoint PLLC, November 18, 2016.
- Foreign Investment in U.S. Agriculture Raises National Security Concerns, MassPoint PLLC, April 2016.