Michael DeBernardis

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Michael DeBernardis is the senior vice president and general counsel for HII’s Mission Technologies division, where he leads the legal function and provides strategic counsel to senior leadership across the enterprise. He oversees all legal matters affecting Mission Technologies, coordinating guidance on complex regulatory, contractual, and compliance issues that shape the division’s operations and long term strategy.

Prior to joining HII, DeBernardis served as the Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. He also chaired the firm’s internationally recognized Global Investigations, Enforcement, and Compliance practice, advising multinational corporations on cross border investigations and regulatory risk.

DeBernardis career spans nearly two decades in private practice in Washington, D.C., representing clients in high stakes government enforcement actions, complex litigation, and global compliance matters. His work included engagements before the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Senate, and multiple international enforcement bodies involving allegations related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, procurement fraud, financial and accounting fraud, money laundering, and sanctions violations.

DeBernardis earned an Honors B.S. from the University of Delaware and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.

HII is America’s largest shipbuilder, delivering the world’s most powerful ships and all-domain mission technologies, including unmanned systems, to U.S. and allied defense customers. HII is the largest producer of unmanned underwater vehicles for the U.S. Navy and the world. With a more than 140-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII builds and integrates defense capabilities extending from the core fleet to C6ISR, AI/ML, EW and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII’s workforce is 44,000 strong.