The Legal 500

Hogan Lovells US LLP is regarded by clients as ‘the best in the business’, with its lawyers ‘acknowledged experts in the field’. The firm’s broad practice includes everything from trade agreement work and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters, to negotiations and disputes arising under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as well as other bilateral, multilateral and regional agreements. The firm is currently acting for the Government of China in major proceedings in both Europe and the United States. In Europe, the firm is acting on the first ever countervailing duty dispute against China which concerns coated paper and which is a ground-breaking case which may lead to further challenges in a variety of international tribunals. In the US, it is representing China in the Court of International Trade appeals concerning subsidy and antidumping investigations into certain types of steel product. This matter is the largest countervailing duty and antidumping case to date between China and the US with over $2.5bn in annual trade directly at stake. On the corporate side, Ford is an important client with the firm acting for the motor manufacturer on a global basis concerning international trade matters. Recent highlights include defending Ford before the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in antidumping and countervailing duty actions involving the export of vehicles from the US to China while, in Europe, the practice has asserted Ford’s interest in a European Union (EU) antidumping action against aluminum wheels that could adversely affect Ford’s global purchasing strategy in Europe, China and the United States. In 2010, the firm assisted Nestlé Waters North America regarding the implementation of the 2009 settlement of the long-standing Beef Hormones Dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The practice is also acting for New Zealand’s Fonterra, the largest exporter of dairy products in the world, in developing and executing its corporate strategy for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. Fonterra exports almost 90% of New Zealand’s dairy production and, through a joint venture with the Dairy Farmers of America, has made the US the third largest dairy exporter in the world. With 14 partners concentrating on trade matters, the firm fields a wealth of talent. Deen Kaplan is ‘highly respected’. Mark McConnell provides ‘an extraordinary level of service’, while Beth Peters is ‘professional and smart’.

With a practice encompassing all the major facets of international trade work, Sidley Austin LLP’s clients praise the firm’s ‘outstanding level of service in terms of knowledge, innovation and approachability’. The trade team’s expertise extends to export controls, embargoes and economic sanctions compliance; trade and investment policy issues before key government officials, including DG Trade (EU), MOFCOM (China), METI (Japan) and USTR (US); international trade and investment negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), and bilateral investment treaties (BITs); export control and countervailing duty matters as well as FCPA work. The practice fields a strong team with ‘some of the best international lawyers in practice in the US’. On the trade policy side, the firm’s clients include multinational companies, financial institutions, trade associations and governments. The practice acted as counsel to the Embassy of Korea on legal issues under US and international trade law regarding the proposed US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, as well as assisting First Solar, a leading manufacturer of photovoltaic modules, to address local content legislation adopted by the Province of Ontario in Canada. It is advising General Electric Company on G20 issues as well as providing continuing advice to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council on US trade policy and compliance with regulation. The firm has a strong WTO disputes practice and is currently acting for the governments of both China and Japan while on the WTO negotiation side The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association are important clients. On the customs front, the firm successfully defended the Hartford insurance companies in an unprecedented $1bn class action lawsuit for the collection under defendants’ customs bonds of antidumping duties allegedly underpaid by defendants’ insured. The firm is well known for its FCPA work; the firm has successfully acted for multinational manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies on investigations brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Andrew Shoyer heads up the firm’s international trade group and is ‘an excellent practice leader’. Lisa Crosby brings ‘clarity and precision to difficult issues’, while Richard Belanger ‘knows the trade landscape very well and provides great advice and insight’.

With a broad-ranging practice that covers everything from customs work to international trade policy and negotiation, Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s clients say that the firm has ‘top-notch international trade attorneys, with substantive legal knowledge and experience in resolving complex controversies and handling trade policy matters’. The trade team has particular expertise in WTO dispute resolution and the practice has advised governments and private sector interests in nearly two dozen WTO proceedings, which have given rise to more than 40 panel and Appellate Body reports. The firm represented the Government of China in proceedings against the US concerning the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duty orders on four Chinese products as well as acting for the Government of Canada before the Appellate Body in the significant case of United States – Lumber ITC Investigation. On the trade policy side, the practice advised the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy (“MKE”) on the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), the largest FTA since NAFTA. The firm helped MKE formulate positions and draft proposed negotiating text on a wide array of issues, including tariff reductions, textiles, trade remedies, market access, investments, government procurement, autos, and electronic commerce. The practice also advised the Confederation of Mexican Industries (COECE) in the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and provided advice to the Government of Canada in connection with the negotiation of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. With a large trade team, clients are impressed with the firm’s ‘high-quality work, fantastic briefs and oral arguments’. Susan Esserman chairs the international practice and is highly regarded by clients and peers alike. Litigator Mark Moran has a wealth of experience before international tribunals, and is ‘a leader in the field’ and ‘exceptionally client-focused’. For trade policy matters, Richard Cunningham is ‘pragmatic and smart’.

WilmerHale’s full service trade practice is made up of ‘a strong group of former government agency heads who really understand the regulations and environment and who are blessed with great analytical skills’. Clients are impressed by ‘work which is always of the highest standard’. The firm’s expertise extends to export controls and economic sanctions; CFIUS matters; import compliance programs and trade remedies litigation. The firm is particularly well regarded for its work on trade policy and negotiation and its China practice. On antidumping matters, the practice has represented clients in proceedings arising under the laws of Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, China, Indonesia, Korea, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and Venezuela, and in numerous GATT and WTO appeals involving antidumping issues. The firm has also been involved in some of the largest countervailing duty cases including the Foreign Sales Corporations, US-Softwood Lumber, EC-Sugar, Brazil-Aircraft and Brazil-Desiccated Coconut cases. The practice’s import compliance experience includes assisting the major US automobile manufacturers in supporting legislation on the classification of, and tariffs on, multipurpose vehicles as well as representing companies on issues of classification, valuation, country-of-origin marking and fraud in US and EU customs administrative proceedings, and subsequent litigation before the US Court of International Trade and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Representative matters on foreign investment into the US included advising two major US financial services firms in connection with substantial investments by Chinese and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds (completed without CFIUS review). Recently voted one of the most influential women in Washington, Charlene Barshefsky is ‘absolutely brilliant and able to grasp a problem in matter of seconds and come up with a quick and effective solution’. Robert Novick chairs the regulatory and government affairs group and is ‘astute, extremely knowledgeable and able to get straight to the heart of the matter’. Ronald Meltzer and David Weller are also highly regarded.

Clients praise the trade team at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP for its ‘high standard of work, the professionalism of its attorneys and success rate’. The firm has extensive experience in antidumping and countervailing duty litigation; customs law; export control and economic sanctions work; anti-boycott laws; WTO disputes and trade policy matters. Trade remedies, export control and sanctions work are particular areas of strength. The firm’s clients include Georgia Pacific, Samsung Electronics, Posco, Bridgestone Firestone North America, Fujitsu and Hansol Paper. Valerie Slater heads up the firm’s international trade group and is well regarded for her regulatory practice. Warren Connelly has a strong litigation practice with a focus on import and export-related matters. Stephen Kho is also recommended.

With a highly regarded export control practice and a leading player in contentious matters, clients deem the trade team at Covington & Burling LLP to be ‘outstanding’. Representative matters on the customs side include advising several international companies on origin issues under EU preferential trade agreements and repairing ruling requests for a major Japanese electronics company and its US subsidiaries with respect to classification, government procurement, and foreign-origin marking issues. On trade policy, the practice advises several leading US companies on effectively responding to existing and proposed Chinese trade barriers, including in the areas of intellectual property, technology standards, and competition law, and has been instrumental in raising the profile of these issues in US bilateral negotiations with China. The firm also has a strong FCPA practice, advising a number of multinational companies on a global scale. Peter Flanagan is recommended for export control work, while Peter Troboff is well regarded on the regulatory side. David Fagan is the name to note for CIFIUS work.

A strong player in the international arbitration field, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP has significantly strengthened its international trade practice with the arrival of Jennifer Choe Groves from the White House staff in April 2010, and the hires of Joanne Osendarp and John Ryan from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in early 2011. The firm’s expertise extends to export controls and sanctions, trade remedies and market access, intellectual property, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) work, while the new hires will strengthen the firm on the trade policy front. The firm acts for Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), the defense services company, and has advised on a range of compliance issues including product classification, export licensing (for military items and for dual-use items), sanctions compliance, anti-boycott mattes and compliance language in contracts. On the trade remedies front, the firm acted as defense counsel for the largest Thai exporter in a series of antidumping proceedings involving plastic bags from Thailand as well as being retained by a major manufacturing multinational to handle its US international trade remedies and other trade matters (antidumping, countervailing duty, Customs, NAFTA, FTA) on steel and a wide range of other products and services. Amanda DeBusk heads up the group and is well regarded for her export control work. Ken Pierce is also recommended.

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP is one of the few firms to specialise in petitioners work in international trade with a strong track record in protecting domestic manufacturers against unfairly traded goods and significant expertise in antidumping and countervailing duties matters. The firm also helps companies with traditional trade issues such as classification, valuation and country of origin and is active on WTO, NAFTA and other international agreements. The firm is representing Allegheny Ludlum Corporation in advising the US government in a precedent-setting appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) challenging the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties against American producers of electrical steel, used to make power transformers. The ongoing appeal alleges that China failed to follow WTO rules in its investigation, thus making it impossible for the US producers to defend themselves. On the policy side, the practice helped to forge a partnership between the global chocolate and cocoa industry, US Department of Labor, US Senator Tom Harkin and US Representative Eliot Engel and the governments of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. This agreement, known as the Framework Of Action in Support of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, represents a significant achievement in reduction of the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa growing areas. David Hartquist heads up the practice and is ‘exceptionally bright’; Kathleen Cannon and Paul Rosenthal are also recommended.

Providing clients with ‘an excellent level of service’, King & Spalding LLP’s work on trade matters is ‘of the highest quality’. The firm is particularly strong on the disputes side with significant expertise in countervailing duty matters. Clients include AK Steel Corporation, Bridgestone Americas, Credit Suisse, The Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil and General Electric. The international trade practice expanded in 2010/11 with a number of new hires and the opening of a new office in Geneva. Representative matters included acting for US Magnesium, the only US producer of primary magnesium, in the five-year (sunset) reviews of the antidumping duty orders on magnesium from China and Russia. The firm is also representing US Magnesium in numerous administrative reviews and judicial proceedings resulting from those reviews. On the WTO side, the practice advised the Office of the US Trade Representative and the US Department of Commerce in successfully defending against China’s recent WTO challenge of four US countervailing duty findings involving OTR Tires, circular welded pipe, light-walled rectangular pipe, and laminated woven sacks. The firm was involved in three of the four underlying investigations before the US authorities. Stephen Jones heads up the international trade group and is highly recommended. Joe Dorn is ‘very responsive’ and ‘can explain issues in straightforward terms that are easy to understand’.

Despite the departure of Joanne Osendarp and John Ryan to Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP retains significant capability in the international trade field. The firm’s experience includes antidumping, countervailing duty, safeguards and other trade remedy proceedings; WTO and NAFTA dispute avoidance and resolution; investment arbitrations under NAFTA and bilateral investment treaties; state to state arbitrations; international trade negotiations; public policy counseling; customs compliance; economic sanctions, export controls, and anti-boycott issues; international intellectual property protection; national security reviews of foreign investment; and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance. The practice has particular expertise in economic regulatory laws and regularly advises clients on internal investigations and disclosures, diligence for various corporate transactions and designing compliance programs. The firm acted for the two largest Mexican producers of copper pipe and tube, as respondents in antidumping proceedings before the US International Trade Commission and the US Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission issued final determinations and the respondents are currently in the process of reviewing those determinations regarding appeals. Chip Roh is the name to note.

Trade litigation, export control and customs law are at the heart of Arent Fox LLP’s international trade practice, but the firm is also building significant capability in the anti-corruption and international corporate governance areas. Clients praise ‘extraordinary levels of service and responsiveness’ as well as a ‘solutions-based approach’. Since 2001, the firm has acted for the provincial government of Québec defending against allegations that it is providing standing timber to softwood lumber producers at subsidized prices. The softwood lumber case is the largest, most complex trade case ever filed, involving more than $5bn in annual trade. The underlying dispute over the alleged subsidization of standing timber has been raised, on and off, for more than 100 years. The practice is also acting for several ArcelorMittal Steel subsidiaries in antidumping duty administrative reviews, investigations and sunset reviews. Matthew Nolan heads up the trade group and is highly regarded. Clients praise John Gurley for his ‘business acumen’; Kay Georgi is also recommended.

Arnold & Porter LLP has a full service international trade practice covering trade regulation and disputes including antidumping, countervailing duty, and Section 337 intellectual property infringement cases in the US and in other countries. Clients are impressed with its ‘great knowledge of the law and capacity to understand the business requirements and client’s needs, plus great attention to detail’. The firm also has an active compliance practice advising on exports including controls under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), antiboycott legislation, and other laws governing international economic activity. The practice defended a South African aluminum plate producer in a US antidumping case filed by Alcoa. It obtained low dumping margins before the US Department of Commerce, and then obtained a ruling from the US International Trade Commission that South African imports were not injuring the US industry. No antidumping duties were imposed. Head of the international trade practice Lawrence Schneider and Michael Shor are the names to note.

With particular strength in trade sanction, anti-boycott and export compliance Baker & McKenzie’s clients praise the firm’s ‘great depth of knowledge and experience combined with a practical approach’. The practice is also well-versed in trade remedies and FCPA matters. The firm acts for Symantec as trade compliance counsel, and during 2010, assisted the company with the export control and trade compliance aspects of four acquisition transactions. On the contentious side, the firm is representing Hewlett Packard in the filing of an amicus brief with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the matter of BenQ America Corporation v United States. The case involves the proper customs classification of flat screen monitors. Nick Coward is chair of the firm’s global trade practice and is recommended. Paul McNulty heads up the firm’s global corporate compliance steering committee and is highly regarded.

The trade team at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is ‘very strong, always responsive, with a vast amount of knowledge’. Trade policy and FCPA work are particular areas of strength for the firm as part of a broader practice. The firm is preparing a major published study for the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) on China’s Renewable Energy Generating Equipment Industries designed to be a landmark study of China’s policies affecting the growth of its renewable energy equipment sector. The practice also acted for Alcoa in a successful appeal at the Commerce Department of an export classification request that had place an important company technology under a highly-controlled export classification. Alan Wolff leads the international trade practice and is described by clients as a ‘very fine lawyer’. Harry Clark is ‘excellent’.

Advising large corporate clients on CIFIUS and FCPA matters is an important part of Gibson Dunn’s trade practice. The firm also has significant expertise on export control and countervailing duty rules. American Honda is a longstanding client, which the practice has advised on a wide variety of US customs and international trade matters, including audits and investigations, covering areas such as customs classification, customs valuation, country of origin marking, and antidumping matters involving a variety of products. The practice also advises Western Union’s money transfer businesses in connection with compliance with the USA Patriot Act and anti-terrorism requirements, economic sanctions, and export controls. Judith Lee and Daniel Plaine are the names to note.

McDermott Will & Emery LLP has a strong WTO practice with particular expertise acting for clients in the agribusiness sector. Export control is also an area of strength. The practice acted as counsel to Chiquita and various Latin American countries and was heavily involved in the long-running ‘Banana Wars’ and with negotiating, in late 2010, two WTO Agreements aimed at settling the case. This long-standing dispute has included 13 successful GATT and WTO actions and two successful settlement agreements. The firm also acts for number of clients in the energy sector on import export matters. Carolyn Gleason and David Levine are well regarded in the market.

Miller & Chevalier Chartered’s trade team has considerable expertise in a wide range of areas, including trade remedies, customs, export control, FCPA and global compliance. The firm has been involved in hundreds of antidumping, countervailing duty, safeguard, and other import relief proceedings, both in the United States and abroad. The practice also covers the full spectrum of trade policy, including bilateral, regional, and multilateral negotiations and agreements; investment treaties; development of global market strategies advice and advocacy in connection with US and foreign government legislation and regulation; and bilateral and World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement and accession negotiations. Larry Christensen is recommended for export control work, while Homer Moyer focuses on FCPA matters.

The trade team at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP ‘operates at a high level and has the ability to solve complex problems’ say clients. The firm represents both US and non-US clients with respect to international trade litigation, policy and compliance matters. The practice has litigated trade cases for, and provided advice to, a broad spectrum of clients, including basic manufacturing firms, high-technology companies, pharmaceutical companies, as well as services and agricultural businesses. The firm also has an active trade policy practice advising clients on international agreements. Robert Lighthizer leads the firm’s trade group and is recommended; Jeffrey Gerrish and James Hecht are also names to note.

Stewart and Stewart is a boutique firm which focuses solely on trade matters. The firm’s areas of expertise include trade remedies, customs, WTO work, regional trade agreements as well as import and export issues. The firm recently acted successfully for the US Steelworkers Union on the first Section 421 safeguards investigation against the Chinese tire industry. The firm is headed up by Terry Stewart, who is described as a ‘first-rate advocate’ and ‘the trade lawyer’s trade lawyer’.

White & Case LLP has a full service trade practice which covers dumping, countervailing duties, safeguards and other national trade remedies; the application of WTO agreements and WTO dispute settlement; NAFTA and other regional agreements; export controls and sanctions; customs law and regulation Section 337 investigations in the United States as well as regulatory issues affecting corporate transactions. Clients praise the firm’s ‘outstanding know-how concerning antidumping and subsidy cases’ and report ‘there has not been a single case where its lawyers have not supplied fantastic service and quality of work’. The practice has extensive experience working with sovereign governments and assisted with drafting of the trade laws of many countries, including Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China. The firm also has first hand experience across an eclectic range of industry sectors including uranium, crude oil, steel, bicycles, lumber, textiles, semiconductors, cheese, flowers, fish and shrimp. On the contentious side, the firm has one of the strongest WTO practices in the world. Walter Spak heads up the international trade practice and is highly regarded; William Clinton is also recommended.