The Legal 500

Covington & Burling LLP continues to focus its practice on Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) issues, economic sanctions, export controls, compliance and regulatory matters and developing its expertise in US-China trade relations. The firm is currently advising a non-US oil company on the application of US sanctions against Iran and the application of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, as well as on various Executive Orders. Mark Plotkin and David Fagan advised BAE Systems on national security matters regarding its potential merger with EADS NV. Co-chair of international trade John Veroneau is leading regulatory advice to the Economic Cities Authority of Saudi Arabia, a long-term and broad project, which ranges from telecommunications to governance structures and aims to attract investment and create jobs in Saudi Arabia. Senior of counsel Steven Shaw, New York-based Lynn Neils and Robert Nichols joined the firm in 2012 and Jonathan Gimblett was promoted to the partnership. Co-chairs of international trade Peter Lichtenbaum and Stuart Eizenstat are key names and Peter Flanagan is an ‘expert’ export controls lawyer.

Hogan Lovells LLP’s ‘very professional’ and ‘proactive’ practice is ‘highly client-responsive’ and is valued for its ‘expertise in litigation’ and ‘expert advice on trade relations’. The firm acts for governments and corporations and advises on areas including export controls, economic sanctions, trade remedies, WTO disputes, CFIUS representations, anti-corruption compliance and customs compliance. Deen Kaplan, who is ‘valued as a legal tactician’, and Mark McConnell, a ‘super litigator’ and a ‘strategist and statesman’, make a ‘formidable combination’ and, along with the rest of the team, ‘bring a distinct gravitas to international trade disputes that serves the client well’. Kaplan and McConnell continue to lead advice to the Chinese government in the countervailing duty and antidumping investigations in the solar panels dispute. The pair, in conjunction with the firm’s Moscow office, are also defending Ford Motor Company’s Ford Ortosan joint venture in the Russian antidumping investigation into light commercial vehicles (LCV) from Poland, Italy and Turkey. Craig Lewis is ‘exceptional’ at guiding clients through antidumping trade laws and forms a ‘great team’ with T Clark Weymouth. Anthony Capobianco was promoted to the partnership in January 2013. Beth Peters, who does a ‘great job’, and Ajay Kuntamukkala have ‘extensive industry knowledge’ and are ‘on point’.

Traditionally strong in WTO matters, the ‘excellent’ and ‘extremely responsive’ practice at Sidley Austin LLP also advises on trade remedies, export controls, economic sanctions, CFIUS and customs issues. Richard Belanger is ‘an outstanding customs and trade attorney’ and ‘a strategic thinker who can operate effectively at any level - with customs officials, senior trade staff in both the House and Senate, and with trade professionals in the private sector’. James Mendenhall is representing Loral Aerospace on CFIUS matters and the ‘proactive’ Lisa Crosby continues to advise a number of multinationals on export controls and economic sanctions. ‘Superb’ and ‘energetic’ team head Andrew Shoyer is representing Grupo Transmerquin in the use of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other treaty-based protections to address the alleged unfair treatment of US exports of caustic soda in Mexico. The firm’s Geneva office continues to be crucial in its WTO work, with the Washington DC and Geneva offices recently collaborating on work for Airbus. Richard Weiner and Neil Ellis are recommended. Rajib Pal was promoted to counsel in January 2012.

Clients praise Steptoe & Johnson LLP for its ‘excellent responsiveness, wonderful business acumen and subject knowledge and insight’. The firm provides ‘great client care’, ‘represents good value for money’ and gives ‘dependable advice’. Department head Susan Esserman has a particular focus on China and extensive experience of representing clients in China-based trade investigations, trade policy and market access and regulatory matters. In addition to the firm’s increasing focus on China, the firm has also targeted the Latin American market and has strengthened that practice with the additions of Brigida Benitez and Brazil-trained lawyer Pablo Bentes; both are based in Washington DC. Richard Cunningham is ‘widely respected by both friends and foes in Washington trade circles’ and has an ‘excellent track record of nurturing talent’. Thomas Trendl, Mark Moran, Joel Kaufman, Alice Kipel and of counsel Gregory McCue are also recommended.

WilmerHale’s ‘seasoned’ team has extensive experience in the technology sector and has recently focused on cloud computing issues in connection with international trade. The team’s 18 fee-earners have experience in WTO disputes, trade remedies litigation and export control matters. The firm is currently representing The Boeing Company in a high-profile case challenging the EU’s failure to comply with a WTO ruling regarding subsidies to Airbus. Chair of the international trade practice Charlene Barshefsky and Naboth van den Broek, who was promoted to special counsel in January 2012, are representing the Alliance for Clean Technology Innovation on WTO, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) debates. Elsewhere, the firm has also represented a government in a WTO dispute involving China’s raw materials trade policy and assisted the complainant in a dispute before the WTO panel and WTO appellate body. David Weller and Robert Novick are recommended.

Valerie Slater’s team at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has experience in trade remedies, trade compliance and OFAC regulations. Key highlights included acting for Samsung Electronics Company before the ITC. The firm defended Samsung against a petition filed by a competitor and achieved a vote of 5-0 in Samsung’s favour, rejecting the imposition of antidumping duties. Elsewhere, the firm acted for P&H Mining in trade controls enforcement litigation with assistance in securing a no-action letter from OFAC and advised Savelovskiy in its removal from the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) notorious markets list. Wynn Segall, who is recommended, focuses on export controls, economic sanctions and anti-bribery matters.

With a number of former government advisers in the ‘excellent’ team at Arnold & Porter LLP, the firm has an excellent relationship with departments of state and has a number of personnel with a high level of security clearance. The team, numbering 12 partners and 35 attorneys, is led by the ‘superb’ John Bellinger and John Barker. The firm’s CFIUS practice remains a key strength and the team acts for foreign and domestic clients in sectors including aerospace, energy and defence. Lawrence Schneider, head of the trade remedies and trade policy practice, continues to advise longstanding client, the government of Israel, on a range of international trade matters. The firm is representing Giorgio Foods Inc and PS Chez Sidney. Michael Shor, arguing the case before the Federal Circuit, raised novel and constitutional challenges to the Byrd Amendment on the eligibility of subsidies and successfully argued that PS Chez Sidney could not be denied subsidies. Barker, head of export controls and economic sanctions, heads a team that acts for clients including BAE Systems, Almenia Aeronautica and Corning International.

Operating from offices in Washington DC, New York, Chicago and San Francisco, Baker & McKenzie has endeavored to nationalize its practice to service clients across the US. Clients value this national and global reach as it enables them to ‘resolve matters expeditiously’. The firm ‘strives to see issues from the business perspective’, displays a ‘tremendous depth of knowledge’ and delivers ‘fantastic service’. The firm is active in export controls and economic sanctions, customs compliance, WTO, anti-bribery, anti-corruption and FCPA and trade remedies. Robert Eisen, who is ‘concerned with delivering value’, provides global customs and supply chain planning and advice to clients such as Coldwater Creek. Jonathan Poling joined the firm in April 2012 from the Department of Justice and is viewed as ‘a top practitioner in our field’ by peers and is well respected for his ‘knowledge of the law and his professionalism’. Clients view Michael (Ted) Murphy as ‘a "go-to" attorney’ for customs strategy issues, and Nicholas Coward and Sylwia Lis are also recommended.

Crowell & Moring LLP advises clients on export controls, trade litigation, customs, CFIUS, OFAC, economic sanctions and WTO issues, and free trade agreements. Usefully, the firm has an office in Brussels and is able to advise globally on trade litigation matters and on parallel US and EU antidumping and countervailing/anti-subsidy investigations. The firm advises national governments, trade associations and corporate clients on trade remedy matters and has experience in advising producers, importers and exporters on the FCPA, Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Clients include Alcoa, DuPont, Caterpillar, General Motors, Mazda, Electrolux and Bosch. International trade department head Jeffrey Snyder is ‘excellent’.

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP ‘brings real expertise matched by a good solid litigation strategy’. Following on from the practice’s expansion last year, with the recruitment of Joanne Osendarp and John Ryan, the team has recently been bolstered by the arrival of Matthew Nicely, who was formerly head of international trade and customs at Thompson Hine LLP. Nicely is ‘first rate’, a ‘thoughtful guy and aggressive advocate’, whose chief strength is in trade remedies, customs and FCPA work. Key highlights included advising Cree on the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative. Elsewhere, Kenneth Pierce, head of the international trade remedies and customs group, is leading advice to HBO Latin America with regard to foreign market access. Osendarp, John Townsend and John Wood continued to represent the Canadian government in an arbitration under London Court of Arbitration rules concerning the Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) between the US and Canada. The claim brought by the US was rejected and the tribunal agreed with Canada that the US had failed to show a breach of the SLA. Amanda DeBusk, who chairs the international trade group, has ‘a professional and expert manner’ and co-counsel describe a ‘very positive experience working with her’. Osendarp is ‘a senior experienced trade lawyer of international repute blessed with superb judgment’. Eric Parnes has ‘unrivalled attention to detail’.

King & Spalding LLP has a strong expertise in WTO disputes, and this is underpinned by an office in Geneva. In addition to its WTO practice, the team also represents clients in trade remedies, trade compliance and FCPA matters, and has a growing practice in export controls and economic sanctions and foreign direct investment investigations before CFIUS. The group provides ‘excellent response times, service and results’. Recent instructions include representing US Magnesium LLC, as petitioners, in antidumping proceedings on imports from China and Russia. Other clients include NBCUniversal, Dow Chemical and Lafarge. Stephen Orava, who divides his time between Washington DC and Geneva, ‘combines excellent business understanding with world-class legal expertise in the international trade area to deliver practical, actionable advice’, and ‘strives to ensure that his entire team delivers value and satisfies the client’s needs’. The ‘articulate’ Joseph Dorn has ‘substantial experience in international trade matters’. John Richter rejoined the firm in August 2012 from his position as vice president and deputy general counsel at WellCare Health Plans and, in October 2012, counsel Joseph Laroski joined from the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Latham & Watkins LLP’s practice focuses on export controls, sanctions and customs, FCPA, anti-corruption and CFIUS. The firm has deliberately chosen to distance itself from traditional international trade work, including trade remedies, and has focused the practice as an extension of the firm’s robust white collar litigation department. This approach has been successful for the firm, as it has recently seen an increase in instructions relating to trade and economic sanctions against Iran and Syria by the US and the UN. The ‘absolutely outstanding’ William McGlone, a ‘superb practitioner in export and sanctions’, leads a team of over 30 attorneys and continues to specialize in ITAR and EAR cases. Edward Shapiro focuses his practice on CFIUS matters and Les Carnegie advises on export controls. Recent work for the firm includes advising on the voluntary disclosure of a violation of US export control laws, advising on compliance with US sanctions and representing a multinational company in multiple criminal and administrative proceedings.

Traditionally a petitioner-side firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP continues to focus its practice on trade remedies and particularly administrative reviews and sunset reviews. Key industry focuses include manufacturing and technology. CFIUS expert Ivan Schlager and counsel Malcolm Tuesley are advising Toshiba on its acquisition of a 20% stake in Westinghouse Electric Company LLC from Nuclear Energy Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of the Shaw Group. This stable, compact team also includes the recommended Robert Lighthizer, Jeffrey Gerrish and James Hecht.

Clients praise Arent Fox LLP for its in-depth knowledge of international trade, understanding of clients’ businesses and its ‘customized’ and ‘effective’ advice. Matthew Nolan oversees a team that provides an ‘excellent’ level of service and advises on trade litigation, export controls, customs law and trade policy. The firm has recently received a number of new instructions from Argentina as well as NatureSweet, a Mexican tomato producer. The firm is involved in the high-profile issue of solar panel subsidies and John Gurley is leading advice to Trina Solar, a Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic modules, used in solar panels. Kay Georgi is providing global compliance advice to 3M regarding export and import controls and anti-boycott compliance. The firm usually acts on the side of respondents, but notably managing partner Matthew Clark and Matthew Kanna are representing CP-Kelco in antidumping petitions before the ITC. The case alleges that imports of xanthum gum from Austria and China have caused material injury to the US xanthum gum industry. Michael Burton left the firm to establish a boutique practice in January 2013.

Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP recruited an international trade team from Winston & Strawn LLP in January 2012. Although, this is a new practice area for the firm, the majority of the team has been together for 25 years and has substantial ‘clout’ in the market and clients have followed the team in its move. Key strengths are in trade remedies and WTO work, and, geographically, the group has significant experience in Brazil and East Asia. Indeed, the experience of department head William Barringer and Daniel Porter in East Asia makes a good fit with the wider firm’s attempts to grow its business in the region. Porter and James Durling share a ‘great dynamic’ and have ‘strong knowledge’; clients single them out as ‘two of the top trade lawyers’. This ‘very professional’ team is ‘willing to get down and dirty in the details’, and a key highlight for the firm is its work in GPX International Tires v United States. Following a 2011 victory on behalf of the client at the US Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit, the team is now in court concerning alleged unconstitutional legislation.

Judith Lee chairs Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP’s 13 fee-earner international trade practice group. With offices across the US and Europe, the firm is well placed to advise on import and export issues, transnational and investment control compliance, WTO disputes, NAFTA and commercial trade litigation and policy. Lee and colleagues have provided economic sanctions advice to companies including AECOM Technology Corporation, Facebook, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and Isis Mobile Wallet. Donald Harrison and John Christopher Wood are the key names for customs and trade remedies, and have provided advice to a raft of clients. The firm has a longstanding relationship with American Honda with Harrison and Wood advising the client on a range of customs issues, including classification, valuation and country of origin marking. Harrison and Wood are currently representing the same client in ongoing Chinese government antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of exports of automobiles from the US.

Primarily acting for petitioners in the domestic industry, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP’s ‘outstanding’ team is praised for its ‘respect, integrity, commitment, hard work and team work’. Clients appreciate the firm’s strong team ethos and winning mentality and rate the firm ‘very highly’. In 2012, R Alan Luberda and the ‘knowledgeable and aggressive’ Michael Coursey advised the American Honey Producers Association and Sioux Honey Association to defeat Chinese schemes to circumvent an antidumping order. Other recent highlights include advising the Flowserve Corporation on an ongoing voluntary self-disclosure process before OFAC and BIS, including advising on an export controls and economic sanctions audit. Trade remedies practice head Kathleen Cannon ‘has an engaging personality that sets a good environment for accomplishment’; export controls practice head Eric McClafferty has ‘excellent "big picture" wisdom’; Jeffrey Beckington ‘asks excellent questions and listens well’; and Paul Rosenthal is ‘a leading light’. Although less active in this area than previously, ‘respected leader’ David Hartquist is valued by clients for being able to ‘pull people together to achieve the desired outcome’. John Herrmann was promoted to the partnership in 2012. Darryl Jackson left the firm in July 2012.

Head of the global regulatory practice and international trade practice Carolyn Gleason heads the team at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Notably, the firm opened a new office in Seoul in February 2012 following a loosening of the restrictions allowing US firms to operate in South Korea. The team, led by Gleason and Pamela Walther, continues to be active in the longstanding ‘Banana Wars’ dispute, where it acts for Chiquita Brands International. Following on from assisting in negotiating settlement agreements, the firm has organized a coalition of interests to fight new export restrictions mandated by the EU, which allegedly violate WTO rules. The firm traditionally acts for a number of agribusiness clients and is currently advising a coalition of US agribusiness interests in pursuing steps under WTO bodies and US laws to investigate and redress the allegedly unfair sales of Chinese agricultural products in the US and other markets. Jay Eizenstat, who joined the firm in January 2012 from Miller & Chevalier Chartered, has particular expertise in Asia and is currently advising the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on market-access disputes in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The team at Miller & Chevalier Chartered advises on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-corruption, export controls, economic sanctions and global compliance. Kathryn Cameron Atkinson heads the international department, while John Davis coordinates the FCPA practice and Larry Christensen coordinates the exports team. David Resnicoff joined the firm in October 2011 from a compliance role at Baxter International. Barbara Linney, who joined in June 2012 from Blank Rome LLP, has strong expertise in the export controls area and the maritime industry. Senior associate Jian Bin Gao joined the firm’s Washington DC office in February 2012, after moving from the San Francisco office of Morrison & Foerster LLP, and Matteson Ellis has rejoined the firm’s anti-corruption practice as special counsel. Laura Billings and David Hardin were promoted as new members in January 2013. Homer Moyer is recommended.

New York-based Palmina Fava and Washington DC-based Morgan Miller co-chair the global compliance and disputes team at Paul Hastings LLP. Within the team, Timothy Dickinson heads the FCPA and anti-corruption practice and Hamilton Loeb and Scott Flicker lead the global trade controls practice, while the firm is also active in trade remedies. Traditionally, the firm has strong experience in representing clients in the pharmaceuticals industry. The firm is currently advising The Limited Brands on compliance with anti-corruption laws and regulations and serves as principal outside counsel to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, providing advice on free trade agreement negotiations, trade remedy matters and government immunity issues. Behnam Dayanim joined the firm in October 2012 from Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider and Corinne Lammers was promoted to the partnership in February 2013.

Washington DC-based Stewart and Stewart is a specialist international trade practice. The firm advises clients on trade remedies, WTO disputes, customs, international trade agreements, and government subsidies. ‘Excellent’ managing partner Terry Stewart heads the practice, which acts for clients including US and international companies, farmers and ranchers, governments, trade associations, unions and non-profit organizations. The majority of the firm’s work is on behalf of domestic parties in the US that face unfair competition from exporters. Wesley Caine, William Fennell, Geert De Prest, Alan Dunn and Eric Salonen are key names in the practice.

Clients appreciate the ‘global’ reach of White & Case LLP’s practice, which is established across a number of jurisdictions and collaborates as ‘a single trade group’. The firm is ‘always accessible’, provides ‘great advice’, has a ‘deep bench’ and the quality of its lawyers is ‘consistently high’. International trade group head Walter Spak and David Bond, who divides his time between Miami and Washington DC, are advising new client Hyundai Heavy Industries and its US importer, Hyundai Corp, in an antidumping case before the US Department of Commerce and US International Trade Commission (ITC). The firm is also representing the same client in a companion dumping case in Canada. In April 2012, the firm obtained a negative injury determination from the ITC in an antidumping case involving imports of galvanized steel wire from Mexico, on behalf of Deacero S.A. de C.V. and Deacero USA. Bond has a ‘creative and practical’ approach to finding solutions; he and counsel Jay Campbell have a ‘win-win mindset’ and ‘decades of experience in the international trade field’.

Providing ‘outstanding value for money’, the ‘first-rate’ Wiley Rein LLP is praised by clients as being ‘proactive, realistic and responsive in providing judicious, sober advice while making sure to manage our expectations’. The practice encompasses areas including import relief, unfair trade proceedings, market access, economic sanctions, export controls, FCPA, anti-boycott, trade policy, customs law and compliance, and CFIUS issues. The firm acts for petitioners on the trade remedies side and, in 2011-12, represented the Wind Tower Trade Coalition in petitioning for antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into Chinese imports of utility-scale wind towers as well as anti-dumping investigations into utility-scale wind towers in Vietnam. Chair of the international trade practice Alan Price is ‘knowledgeable, efficient and client focused’, and is viewed by clients as ‘a "go to" lawyer’. Timothy Brightbill, Adam Gordon and Robert DeFrancesco are ‘at the very top of their game’, and John Shane is also recommended. Serena Moe joined the firm in July 2012 from Citigroup and John Reynolds left the firm for Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in January 2012.