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Services Available
Customs Law
Williams Mullen advises clients on all customs matters – from trade facilitation to homeland security – whether it involves a policy, regulatory or litigation issue. We help clients to mitigate the legal risks that accompany supply chain management: from trade compliance to import safety to homeland security. Our attorneys have extensive experience dealing with traditional customs issues such as entry requirements, tariff classification, customs valuation, rules of origin and country of origin marking. We also counsel clients regarding qualification for preferential trade agreements such as NAFTA or any of the other numerous free trade agreements or preference programs such as the Generalized System of Preferences.
Our team routinely obtains rulings, files protests and litigates customs decisions in the courts. We also help clients to dispute the assessment of duties, including vessel repair duties, to obtain duty drawback or to take the benefit of other duty deferral programs. Our attorneys assist clients to establish (or to oppose their competitors’ establishment of) Free Trade Zones and also to comply with pertinent regulatory requirements.
Williams Mullen works with clients to help them proactively manage their compliance efforts; developing and improving their internal controls, recordkeeping and customs-compliance programs. We also counsel them during customs audits such as Focused Assessments or when participating in self-policing import compliance programs such as the Importer Self Assessment (ISA). When more defensive action is needed, our team aggressively represents clients in civil administrative penalty and criminal proceedings.
Clients rely on our team to keep them up-to-date with regulatory changes in Homeland Security, especially related to supply chain and port security, as well as the rules of other agencies (e.g., the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations implementing the Bioterrorism Act). Through our guidance, clients have partnered with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to enhance supply-chain security through the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). Notably, our team includes a private sector advisor to the U.S. Government on Customs and Trade Facilitation for trade negotiating purposes.
In addition to representation and advice on U.S. Customs Law matters, our team has advanced and defended our clients’ customs-related interests in the context of multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations, including Free Trade Area agreements. We have also represented clients before foreign customs authorities concerning tariff and non-tariff restrictions placed on U.S. exports.
Export Controls and Sanctions
The dynamic world of export controls and sanctions requires experienced counsel to guide businesses past potential liability exposure. Williams Mullen’s International team assists clients with U.S. export license applications, re-export license applications, international government contracts, deemed export reviews and commodity classification requests, including requests involving encryption items, as required by the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). We regularly counsel businesses on creating and implementing programs for compliance with the EAR, embargoes and sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC), and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Our seasoned attorneys have represented clients in adversarial proceedings before BIS and OFAC related to appeals of license denials and defense of enforcement actions. We also counsel our clients on compliance with U.S. Anti-boycott Laws and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and advise on foreign export restrictions, such as national laws enacted to implement the E.U. Privacy Directive.
Global Business Transactions
Williams Mullen provides advice and representation in all aspects of international business transactions and activities. We have helped clients form and capitalize an appropriate business entity for: international mergers and acquisitions; joint ventures, teaming agreements, joint development and marketing partnerships; foreign distribution, reseller, sales representative, agent, “Del Credere” and other marketing agreements. Our team advises clients on the wide range of potentially applicable U.S. laws, including export controls and sanctions, U.S. antitrust/competition laws, laws affecting intellectual property, and laws relating to the appointment of agents and distributors. We also counsel on foreign law issues such as: legality and regulation of the proposed business; enforceability of contracts; corporate ownership; local-currency issues; form and method of payment; employee relations; litigation and arbitration; preferred structure of local presence; applicable bilateral investment treaties; taxes; customs, import and export requirements; and political risk.
Our International Team has extensive experience in planning and structuring cross-border inbound investments into the United States. Our attorneys help companies to: establish a representative office, branch or wholly-owned subsidiary; acquire a local company; make an equity investment; enter into a joint venture or partnership; or implement a cross-border reorganization (including mergers, liquidations and divestitures). We advise clients on such elements as: selecting a site or acquisition; structuring the U.S. investment (e.g., choice of entity); financing the U.S. investment (including debt and equity financing); coordinating immigration strategy with investment plans; advising business executives on international tax issues; addressing relevant requirements of labor and employment law; complying with domestic preference statutes governing U.S. procurement such as the Buy America Act; interpreting incentives and tax treaties to minimize global taxation; and efficiently repatriating profits from the United States. Comprehensive support packages tailored to each clients ensures that their unique objectives are met.
International Crisis Management
Having represented one of the most high-profile companies involved in the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program (OFFP) investigation, Williams Mullen’s skilled and experienced team can provide the full scope of representation needed for rapid response when international and U.S. investigators request documents or testimony relating to worldwide business operations. Our comprehensive services cover the legal, forensic and lobbying components needed for an effective response. In the OFFP matter, for example, we represented one client in interactions with several foreign and international investigative bodies, five U.S. Congressional committees, and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Whether investigators allege improprieties or the company’s role as a mere witness threatens to catch it in a legal or public-relations crossfire, we work closely with clients to develop proactive action plans to handle crisis management, conduct comprehensive internal reviews, develop discovery strategies, analyze environments and establish relationships to ensure the best possible outcomes. Appropriate strategies for highly dynamic and politically charged situations minimize the risks of civil and criminal liability, debarment by governments and international organizations, potentially compromised access to capital markets/financing and reputational harm. We have also assisted clients’ efforts to comply with provisions for recordkeeping and internal controls in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), as well as the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.
International Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Our highly skilled trial and appellate attorneys handle sophisticated transborder business and certain civil disputes in U.S. and foreign courts. Whether clients seek to enforce foreign judgments and arbitral awards, resolve disputes arising from construction contracts, defend ethical and legal compliance programs, or protect and enforce intellectual property rights, our team has the extensive experience to protect our clients' interests. We can also facilitate arbitration under rules established by the American Arbitration Association (A.A.A.), International Chamber of Commerce (I.C.C.), London Court of International Arbitration (L.C.I.A.), Society of Maritime Arbitrators (S.M.A.), International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (I.C.S.I.D.), and United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Our overseas offices in London and correspondent counsel relationships with law firms in all major commercial centers empower us to address needs almost anywhere they might arise.
International Trade and Policy
Our attorneys have a wealth of experience providing advice and representation in international trade and trade-policy matters. Whether the goal is to penetrate foreign markets, address unfair trade practices, open the U.S. market or otherwise respond to a competitive situation, we are prepared to meet the challenge.
Our team can bring petitions or oppose them in a wide variety of U.S. trade-remedy proceedings. These proceedings sometimes involve unfair imports under U.S. antidumping law (discriminatory pricing), countervailing duty law (subsidies), Section 301 (trade practices in foreign markets) or Section 337 (intellectual property rights infringement). At other times these U.S. proceedings involve safeguard actions linking imports to market disruption. We have also represented clients in non-U.S. trade-remedy proceedings and trade disputes arising from multilateral and regional trade arrangements. Our team regularly advises businesses, governments and associations on trade-policy considerations related to: existing and proposed U.S. and foreign legislation and rulemakings; ongoing multilateral and regional trade negotiations and agreements, including WTO, GATT, GATS, NAFTA, APEC, FTAA, MERCOSUR and South and Central American FTAs; U.S. preferential trade arrangements, including GSP, CBI and ATPA; and non-tariff trade barriers, product standards and technical barriers to trade.
We represent clients in administrative proceedings, litigation, dispute resolution and arbitration. Our team is especially proud of our recent trailblazing pro bono work, which successfully helped eligible workers obtain Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Latin America Task Force
Williams Mullen's Latin America Task Force, a team of attorneys and professionals having particularly extensive skills and experience with Latin American legal and business issues, serves our clients’ increasing activities in Latin America and supports future business growth opportunities. Strengths of the team include:
- expertise in the Civil Code Legal system;
- extensive contacts in government and industry sectors in almost all Latin America countries;
- highly proficient Spanish language skills, written and spoken, including industry and legal lexicons;
- an in-house collection of selected Codes, laws and regulations of all major Latin American countries;
- experience in business, corporate, commercial, investment, customs, tax, intellectual property and trade issues in Latin American countries;
- a fundamental understanding of Latin American cultures;
- a well-respected reputation in Latin America;
- established affiliations and close working relationships with selected Latin American law firms that specialize in targeted areas in all major commercial centers;
- extensive work with legislative bodies, administrative/executive branch agencies and independent entities in certain South and Central American countries; and
- the expertise of Williams Mullen Strategies, which assists clients with public policy advocacy, regulatory affairs and public affairs strategies involving Latin America.
Our team has substantial experience with commercial, trade, investment and regulatory issues specific to U.S.-Latin-American businesses, including: antidumping and countervailing duty cases; trade policy and trade agreements such as NAFTA, MERCOSUR, CARICOM and the Andean Community; international litigation, dispute resolution and arbitration; customs matters; product standards; trade legislation; intellectual property matters; labor and employment law; energy and environmental law; privatization projects; mergers and acquisitions; corporate finance and securities; immigration matters; and international tax.
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