Ms. Ayres is counsel in Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Washington, D.C., office. She specializes in U.S. trade and investment laws applicable to cross-border transactions, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.S. economic sanctions, and laws restricting foreign investment in the United States. She has advised many companies around the world, including industrial, banking and investment banking clients, on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other statutes. Ms. Ayres anti-bribery advice has focused on worldwide transnational anti-corruption measures and conventions, as well as FCPA enforcement actions and developments. She has drafted dozens of agent agreements, guidelines and compliance codes, tailored to take account of differences in corporate operations, structures and cultures. She has also conducted intensive training programs for U.S. companies and their overseas subsidiaries in many parts of the world, as well as for foreign issuers of U.S. securities.

In addition, Ms. Ayres has published a number of articles on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Exon-Florio Statute and appeared on numerous FCPA panels. She is vice chair of the Anti-Corruption Initiatives & Compliance Issues Committee of the ABA Section of International Law and was also vice chair of the predecessor, the ABA’s Task Force on Corruption. She has been a board member of the Washington International Trade Association since 1989.

Ms. Ayres joined Davis Polk in 1982 and became counsel in 1989.

She graduated from Smith College in 1965 and in 1972 received her J.D. from Yale Law School. She is admitted to the bar of Washington, D.C.