Bakerhostetler issued the following announcement on Jan. 14.
BakerHostetler is pleased to announce that the firm’s international trade practice has been named a Law360 2018 “Practice Group of the Year” in the International Trade category. The accolade honors firm practices for significant work performed over the past year in international trade litigation and international trade compliance.
The international trade litigation team’s trusted and long-time representation of Resolute Forest Products – the leading forest products company in the world – included some key victories among those recognized by Law360. Last summer, a U.S. International Trade Commission investigation found no injury and no threat of injury in a widely publicized vote regarding tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper from Canada. This “bet the company” case posed a major challenge to Resolute’s core business producing and selling newsprint to The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Chicago Tribune, among others. Were Resolute to lose, newspapers all over America would have been devastated, and their readers would have experienced an accelerated demise of their morning papers.
The international trade litigation team defeated a jurisdictional motion for dismissal of Resolute’s investor-state arbitration claim against Canada under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); obtained a rare “zero” duty rate in the Department of Commerce’s antidumping investigation of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada; and disposed of a countervailing duty order on Resolute’s supercalendered paper through successful advocacy with Canada in dispute resolution proceedings at the Word Trade Organization.
BakerHostetler partner and leader of the international trade litigation team Elliot Feldman remarked, “Everyone understood the stakes in the newsprint case, and it required creativity, long hours, intense teamwork, devotion to the client and, certainly in this instance, the greater good.” He added, “We are a team that emphasizes quality and diligence. In 2018, like almost every other trade practice in a new era of international trade, we suddenly were inundated with multiple, simultaneous countervailing duty, antidumping and injury investigations, appeals, and reviews, in addition to an ongoing investor-state dispute. Resisting a tsunami of protectionism, the team persuaded the U.S. International Trade Commission to vote for free trade and with it, a free press.”
Among other triumphs was the international trade compliance team obtaining precedent setting export licenses from the Departments of State, Commerce and Treasury for clients in emerging critical technology industries, including space. The international trade compliance team also conducted major internal investigations of potential non-compliance with U.S. export control and sanctions regimes, and successfully negotiated, in anticipation of possible non-compliance claims, favorable outcomes with enforcement authorities, including for a global investment firm. BakerHostetler partner and leader of the international trade compliance team Kerry Scarlott remarked, “I am extremely proud of our individual team members and their collective ability to advocate aggressively for clients and convince regulators to issue precedent setting decisions. We emphasize creative problem-solving and embrace the challenge of succeeding where others have failed.”
The group’s attorneys, often recognized as strategic, unconventional problem solvers who provide policy advice to company and government leaders on a full range of international trade issues, have handled some of the highest profile international law and international trade matters with respect to trade compliance, trade remedies, customs issues and other government regulations over the past 25+ years. They represent brand name, industry-leading clients, as well as emerging technology, aerospace and defense firms, on the most sophisticated and current matters in the international trade arena.
Original source can be found here.