Global: Year-End Review of Import/Export & Trade Compliance 2022

A specialist in foreign trade and customs, Gonzalo has a broad experience in advisory, preventive audits and litigation related with sophisticated trade operations, trade facilitation and investment. His professional expertise includes legal advisory provided to either domestic or international enterprises, specifically related to import and export regimes, customs valuation, tariff classification, rules of origin, trade barriers (sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade), investment and infrastructure, supply chain management, transport, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Regional and Plurilateral Agreements (CAN, MERCOSUR, among others) compliance and WTO law.
Estudio Echecopar is a member firm of Baker & McKenzie International, a Swiss Verein

Brian Cacic assists clients on all substantive Canadian customs, trade sanctions and export controls issues, including complex customs valuation, tariff classification, rules of origin, marking, remissions and drawbacks. He assists clients to develop and implement effective customs and trade compliance programs, and he regularly conducts internal compliance reviews, prepares voluntary disclosures, and represents clients in Canadian customs compliance audits and enforcement actions. He also provides trade compliance and regulatory advice in connection with corporate restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, and advises clients on trade-related legislative matters.

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Kerry Contini is a partner in the Firm's international trade practice in Washington, DC. She advises companies on export controls, sanctions, and related human rights and supply chain compliance issues. She has been with Baker McKenzie since she was a summer associate in 2005 and started as an associate in 2006. Kerry has been ranked in the Up and Coming categories for Export Controls & Trade Sanctions by Chambers Global (2022) and Chambers USA (2021), with clients highlighting that "her advice and solutions are business-focused" and that she is "very practical and easy to work with." Kerry has been recognized as a “standout” member of Baker McKenzie’s international trade team by Legal 500. Legal 500 reported a client as stating that, “Kerry is thoughtful, practical, efficient, and has really invested in getting to know our business and our team.” Kerry was recognized in the Who's Who Legal 2021 as a Global Leader in Trade & Customs - International Sanctions. Kerry has written on export controls and trade sanctions issues for a number of publications, including WorldECR, The Export Practitioner, and Ethisphere. She has presented on pandemic-related supply chain issues to the US International Trade Commission. Kerry has been quoted in a number of publications, including Global Investigations Review and Asian Legal Business. She is an editor of the Firm’s Global Supply Chain Compliance blog and is a regular contributor to that blog as well as the Firm’s Sanctions & Export Controls Update blog. Kerry is a co-chair of the Export Controls and Sanctions Section of the Association of Women in International Trade. Kerry is part of the diversity and inclusion leadership for the Washington DC office and is a member of the BakerWomen Steering Committee. She has maintained an active pro bono practice throughout her career at Baker McKenzie and is co-chair of the Washington DC office pro bono leadership team. Kerry has worked on a wide range of pro bono matters, primarily focusing on public international law, animal advocacy, and election protection. She is an active member of the Animal Law Committee of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Community of the DC Bar.

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Jannan Crozier is a partner in Baker & McKenzie's Corporate Group based in London and the Firms Global M&A Chair. Jannan practices in Corporate Law and advises clients in relation to cross-border mergers and acquisitions and negotiated carve out transactions.
Jannan joined Baker & McKenzie's London office as a trainee solicitor in 2003, qualifying as a solicitor in the Corporate Group in 2005 and being promoted to partner in 2015.
The Legal 500 lists Jannan as a "Next Generation Partner" within M&A: upper mid-market and premium deals, GPB 500 million and ".. is especially experienced in cross-border M&A, and complex carve-outs."

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Meredith DeMent counsels US and multinational companies across industry sectors on all aspects of US customs law. She focuses her practice on rapidly evolving trade policy, customs compliance, and duty mitigation strategies. She was named a rising star in international trade by Legal Media Group's Expert Guides.

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Dr. Alexander Ehrle is a member of the Firm's International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. Alexander studied law at the Universities of Heidelberg, Montpellier (France), Mainz, Munich and New York (NYU) specializing in Public International and European Law. He worked as advisor and member of a delegation of a developing country at the United Nations before qualifying for the German bar. He spent his clerkship with the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin and Tokyo as well as an international law firm in Frankfurt and Milan. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the structural changes of public international law and their conceptualization in academic discourse basing his research on the governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Alexander is admitted to practice in Germany and New York. 

Alexander co-chairs the Business & Human Rights Committee of the American Bar Association’s International Law Section and has been recognized as one of 40 under 40 lawyers worldwide for foreign investment control by the Global Competition Review.

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Terry Gilroy is a partner in the New York office of Baker McKenzie and a member of the Compliance and Investigations Practice Group. Prior to joining the Firm in 2018, Terry served as Americas Head of the Financial Crime Legal function at Barclays. Terry advises businesses and individuals on white collar and financial crime issues and has significant experience conducting investigations relating to compliance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and related bribery and corruption statutes, economic sanctions regulations as administered by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and statutes. Terry spent six years on active duty in the United States Army as a Field Artillery officer.

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Tristan Grimmer is a partner in Baker McKenzie's London office. He is a member of the Compliance & Investigations and the International Trade and Competition practice groups. Tristan joined the Firm as a trainee in March 2004, qualifying in March 2006. He has advised on parallel investigations by authorities in the United States, Switzerland, Brazil, Japan, and has spent time working in Baker McKenzie's Chicago office. Tristan was recently named as a "Next Generation Lawyer" in the UK Legal 500 2017 directory.

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José has been a member of the Foreign Trade Practice Group since 2000. He is experienced in foreign trade and customs matters, free trade agreements (FTA), regulatory matters, consumer protection and export controls. He has contributed to several publications related to foreign trade and customs matters and is a professor of international trade law at the Universidad Panamericana.

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Louis practices in the areas of telecommunication and media laws, mergers and acquisitions and capital market. He also has substantial experience in general corporate affairs, competition law and trade remedies.

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Rod Hunter, a partner based in the Washington, DC office of Baker McKenzie, practices trade and investment law. He previously served as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and senior director for international economics at the National Security Council (NSC), the White House office that coordinates trade policy and supervises CFIUS. In that role, he managed CFIUS cases, including negotiating resolution of the most sensitive cases. A recognized expert in the field, he has testified before Congress during the legislative process leading to recent amendments to CFIUS’ authorizing legislation. Previously, in addition to coordinating U.S. trade policy at the White House’s NSC, he served as senior counsel at the US Trade Representative’s office, where he litigated cases before the World Trade Organization. He has also taught trade law and policy at the University of Virginia’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and has testified before the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Earlier in his career, Rod practiced regulatory law in Brussels, Belgium for a decade, served as a judicial clerk to Judge Boyce F. Martin, US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, served as an associate to Chief Justice Sir Anthony Mason, High Court of Australia and served as an assistant to Senator John W. Warner, US Senate.

Adriana has over twenty years of experience in customs and foreign trade matters. She joined Baker McKenzie in 2001, became National Partner in 2005 and a Principal in 2018. She has prior experience working as legal director of Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Safeguards in the Mexican Ministry of Economy where she participated in the negotiation of several free trade agreements (FTAs) and in the first dispute settlement resolution cases initiated by Mexico against the US under the NAFTA. Adriana has been ranked a leading practitioner by Chambers and Partners at Chambers Global and Chambers Latin America as well as Legal 500 for ten consecutive years. She was an associate in our Guadalajara and Washington, D.C. offices and currently Heads the Firm’s North America International Commercial Practice Group in Mexico City.

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Janet Kim focuses on outbound trade compliance issues that arise under US economic sanctions, export control laws, investment restrictions, antiboycott regulations, anti-money laundering laws and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. She represents and advises US and non-US companies in criminal and regulatory proceedings, internal investigations, and compliance audits relating to these areas of law. She also advises on the extraterritorial application of these laws in cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint venture arrangements, and other international commercial activities. Her practice includes the development and implementation of workable, risk-based internal compliance programs and procedures for companies in a wide range of industries. Janet currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Firm’s International Commercial Practice Group and has been with the Washington, DC office since 1994.

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Eunkyung Kim Shin regularly advises multi-national companies on complex international trade, regulatory compliance, and customs and import law related matters. She also counsels on cross-border compliance and commercial issues.

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Alexandre Lamy joined Baker McKenzie in 2009 and currently works in the Firm's International Trade Practice Group. He assists clients with sanctions and export controls (Export Administration Regulations (EAR); International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)) and he advises clients on corporate compliance matters. Alex contributes regularly to Baker McKenzie's Sanctions & Export Controls Update blog.
Since August 2021, Alex has been the co-chair of the ABA Section of International Law’s Export Controls & Economic Sanctions Committee. Prior to that appointment, he served on the steering group and as a Vice Chair of the Committee, starting back in August 2011. Alex has organized multiple events regarding recent developments in US trade sanctions and export controls for the Committee.
Alex was recognized in Who's Who Legal 2020 Edition of its Global Guide to Trade & Customs Lawyers as a "leading individual" in North America on International Sanctions and the publication reported that he "attracts applause for delivering 'a practical service which understands the needs of the business'. His 'ready availability to clients, thorough research and strong presentation skills' are further acclaimed." He was also recognized in the 2019 Edition of the same publication as being "much sought after by clients who praise his 'advice of the highest quality' and add, 'He is technically very good on OFAC sanctions issues and military/dual use export controls.'" Alex was named by Financier Worldwide in, “POWER PLAYERS: International Trade & Sanctions 2021 - Distinguished Advisers.

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Callie C. Lefevre is an associate in the Washington, DC office where she is a member of the International Practice Group. Her practice is focused on all aspects of International Trade law, particularly compliance with US export controls, trade and economic sanctions, and US foreign investment restrictions. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Callie worked as a student advocate for the New York University School of Law Environmental Law Clinic. While there, she participated in environmental litigation and advocacy pertaining to water quality and urban runoff under the supervision of attorneys at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Callie’s experience also includes working as a summer associate at Baker McKenzie in 2014, where she participated in all aspects of International Trade law, and working as a legal intern at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Beirut, Lebanon.

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Nicole Looks is a partner within the Amsterdam Tax Practice with more than 25 years of experience. She focuses on advising national and international companies in all value added tax and customs related matters. JUVE Handbook on Commercial Law Firms, International Tax Review, Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and Handelsblatt in cooperation with Best Lawyers recommend her as leading individual in the area of Indirect Taxes since many years and praise her as " "very knowledgeable about German customs tax" and as “very good and practice-oriented“. Nicole heads the European Customs Practice.

Sunny Mann is a Partner in Baker McKenzie's London office and co-leads the UK Compliance and Investigations Practice, as well as the UK International Commercial and Trade Practice. Both these practices are ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 UK. He has also worked in our Firm's Washington DC, New York and Sydney offices. Sunny also advises many clients on risk matters in India. He advises clients (including numerous FTSE 100 and Fortune 100 businesses) on compliance and investigations with respect to export controls, trade sanctions and anti-bribery rules. The Legal 500 ranked Sunny as a “Leading Practitioner", and as "excellent", with a ‘calm’ and "very practical" approach. The India Business Law Journal also noted that Sunny is "excellent and has deep experience in India". He is a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, the leading institute for post-graduate European studies, where he teaches a course on Corporate Compliance.

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Mr. McKenzie's practice is focused on cross-border transactions and international trade regulation, including: - Export Controls, Economic Sanctions Regulation, Customs and Import Regulation - Integrated Corporate Compliance and Anti-Corruption Compliance: Advisory and Investigations - International commercial and technology development and transfer transactions Mr. McKenzie was articles editor at the Harvard Law Review from 1975-1976. Between college and law school Mr. McKenzie served in the Peace Corps in the northwestern mountains of Guatemala. He joined Baker & McKenzie in 1976. Since that time, he has worked in Baker & McKenzie offices in Caracas, Venezuela and Taipei, Taiwan, in addition to San Francisco. For the past 40 years, Mr. McKenzie has arranged and chaired the annual Baker McKenzie Import/Export Conference, the leading international trade regulation and compliance conference in the West Coast of the United States.

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Jess is a technology investigations partner practicing at the forefront of government enforcement in the technology industry. Jess leads Baker McKenzie's investigations and compliance practice on the West Coast.
For more than two decades, Jess has defended companies and individuals in government investigations and conducted internal investigations involving cutting-edge technology issues including AI, cybersecurity, and alleged misuse of all kinds of data. Jess has defended companies and individuals across the Asia Pacific region since the first DOJ Antitrust cartel investigations in 2003, and has a deep understanding of cultural issues impacting investigations in that region and across the globe.
Jess has been recognized by Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, and Global Investigations Review for internal investigations and defense in cases involving White Collar Crime & Government Investigations.

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Anne has been with Baker McKenzie since 2001. Prior to that, she spent four years with the Australian Attorney-General's Department/Australian Government Solicitor mostly working on large IT projects. In her time at Baker McKenzie, Anne has spent 18 months working in London (2007-2008) and more recently three years working in Singapore (2017-2020). Anne is currently the Asia Pacific head of the International Commercial & Trade Group and global co-lead of the Firm's supply chain client solutions initiative.

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Jennifer Revis is a partner in Baker McKenzie's London office and co-leads our EMEA Customs Team.
Jennifer focuses her practice on the public regulation of international trade, particularly in a wide range of customs compliance issues. She regularly advises clients on import matters, including customs valuation, rules of origin, and classification. She has worked with clients designing and implementing their compliance programs, policies, procedures and risk assessments, and assisting them in customs audits. She has significant experience in managing global customs projects and disputes, particularly in the area of customs valuation (transfer pricing; assists; royalties). Jennifer also advises on FTAs and trade remedies matters.
Jennifer has been consistently recognised as a "Leading Individual" for Customs & Excise and “Next Generation Partner” for Trade, WTO Anti-Dumping And Customs. Clients describe her as "an outstanding customs lawyer and litigator with fantastic experience. She is also easy to work with and leads her team with aplomb", "without a doubt, one of the best customs lawyers in the business (…) with an exceptionally deep knowledge of customs valuation concepts, as well as considerable experience applying those concepts in a variety of jurisdictions."
Jennifer has been on secondment to the UK customs authorities (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) in their tax and excise litigation department and to the Firm's European Law Centre in Brussels.

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Esteban Rópolo is a member of the Buenos Aires Bar Association. He was a professor in leading universities in Argentina — including University of Buenos Aires, Argentina Catholic University and Universidad del CEMA — where he taught political economy, foreign trade legal regime and private law. Mr. Rópolo has written a book on competition law and also contributed articles related to his areas of practice.

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Jennifer Ancona Semko focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and internal investigations, with more than 20 years of experience litigating in state and federal courts across the United States. Jennifer represents clients in domestic and international disputes and has expertise in cross-border judicial processes. She also has guided clients through investigations by the US Department of Justice, SEC, EPA, NYSE, Senate Finance Committee, United Nations and other government agencies. She is currently the Chair of the Washington Office Litigation and Government Enforcement practice, as well as Co-Chair of the North American Commercial Litigation subgroup.

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Hanna Shtepa is a Counsel in Baker McKenzie, Kyiv office.

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Ben Smith is a Partner in Baker McKenzie’s London office and a member of the firm’s Compliance & Investigations and International Trade practice groups. Both these practices are ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 UK. Ben joined the London office of Baker & McKenzie in September 2007. He has also worked in Baker McKenzie's San Francisco and Brussels offices, as well as on secondment to the legal and compliance teams at three FTSE 100 UK plcs. The Legal 500 UK ranked Ben as a “Rising Star”, noting “Ben Smith is a pleasure to work with. Professional, knowledgeable and always ready to assist with practical solutions.”

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Alison Stafford Powell co-leads the Firm's West Coast Trade Compliance team. She has considerable experience counseling US and non-US companies on managing trade compliance in the areas of export controls, trade and financial sanctions and US anti-boycott laws. As a dual-qualified lawyer, she provides practical advice to help non-US companies reconcile US and foreign trade regulations and on the extra-territorial impact of US trade restrictions. Chambers USA quotes clients' praise for her being "extremely knowledgeable, responsive, commercially strong and understanding complex issues well." Legal 500 describes here as an "outstanding specialist." She has worked in the Firm's London, Washington, DC and Palo Alto offices since 1996.

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Christine Streatfeild is a Partner in the Washington DC Office and on the Steering Committee for the North America Trade Secrets Practice. She focuses on trade remedies and unfair competition cases, including forced labor investigations, antidumping and countervailing duty cases, safeguard measures, duties imposed for national security purposes (Section 232 duties), and Section 337 intellectual property and trade secrets disputes. She appears before the US International Trade Commission (ITC), US Department of Commerce (DOC), and in state and federal courts. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Christine served as the acting deputy director of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and in the Environment and Natural Resources division of the Office of the United States Trade Representative. She has also served as an adjunct professor at the Krieger School, Johns Hopkins University, where she taught Global Trade, Policy and Competition. She is also on the 2021 USMCA Dispute Settlement Panels Roster (on behalf of the United States), a position she has held since 2019 (under the NAFTA). Christine focuses her practice on matters related to trade regulatory and intellectual property matters, including economic injury and damages, import duty compliance, and unfair competition allegations.

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Junko Suetomi is a partner in Baker McKenzie Tokyo. Prior to joining the Firm, she worked in the WTO Dispute Settlement Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Economic Bureau. She has also worked for a global law firm in Washington, DC and New York, and served as a court-appointed defense attorney in many criminal cases. Junko is recognized as a leading lawyer by Marquis Who's Who, Asia Business Law Journal, Chambers Global and Chambers Asia Pacific, Best Lawyers, Who's Who Legal and other legal directories. She was the chair from 2019 to 2021 and now is vice chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Tokyo Bar Association and a part-time lecturer at Waseda University. She was a legal advisor to the Ministry of Finance Japan's Office of Trade Remedy Affairs, Tariff Policy and Legal Division, Customs and Tariff Bureau from 2016 to 2019. She has served as a bar examiner of the Ministry of Justice since November 2020. She has served as an expert member of the Ministry's Council on Customs, Tariff, Foreign Exchange and Other Transactions since 13 March 2019. She has served as an expert member of the Financial Services Agency's Financial System Council, Fund Settlement System Working Group since October 11, 2021. She also holds a Certificate in Business Analytics from the Harvard Business Analytics Program (March 2021).

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Lise Test is an of counsel in the Firm’s International Trade Group in Washington, DC and practices in the area of international trade regulation and compliance — with emphasis on US export control laws (Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)), trade sanctions, and anti-boycott laws. Ms. Test advises clients on issues relating to product classifications, licensing, regulatory interpretations, risk assessments, enforcement actions, internal investigations and compliance audits, as well as the design, implementation, and administration of compliance programs. Ms. Test works regularly with companies across a wide range of industries, including the pharmaceutical/medical device, telecommunications, manufacturing, and technology sectors. She joined the Firm as a summer associate in 2007 and became a full-time associate in 2008. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Ms. Test served as a lawyer at the Danish Ministry of Defence.

Lionel has joined Baker McKenzie as Customs Lead in February 2022. Lionel has 20+ years of experience in the field of Customs, International Trade, Excises & Energy Levy. Lionel is lecturer at the UIA (Antwerp) & ULG (Liege). He is in charge of the Customs, Excises & International Trade Course at the Solvay Tax MBA.

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Julia Webster is a disputes and international trade lawyer. She advises companies on trade remedies, free trade agreements, blocking measures, customs compliance, anti-corruption laws, economic sanctions, AML compliance, supply chain ethics, and cross-border M&A.

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Iris Zhang is an associate in the Firm's International Commercial & Trade Practice Group. Iris regularly assists multinational companies on sanctions, customs and export control compliance as well as other international trade matters. Before joining the Firm, Iris worked in a Chinese law firm in Beijing on regulatory compliance and risk controls relating to Chinese anti-bribery laws and US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

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