Annual International Practice Seminar 2017: What Should International Practitioners Expect from the Trump Administration? (Online Seminar)

Pratibha Agarwal is the principal shareholder at Agarwal Law Group and advises institutional and individual clients in all areas of business and family-based immigration. Ms. Agarwal’s business immigration practice includes visas and corporate immigration services for employers, nonimmigrant visas for professionals, I-9 compliance, visas for athletes and persons of extraordinary ability, and EB-5 and other visa options for investors and entrepreneurs. She also assists individuals and families obtain permanent residency through family-based petitions, asylum adjustments, special immigrant juvenile petitions, and others. In addition, Ms. Agarwal handles U visas for victims of crimes and Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners. She also assists individuals in the naturalization process

Prior to founding the Agarwal Law Group, Ms. Agarwal was an attorney with the law firm of Jones Day in Washington, DC. She represented Fortune 500 companies in government investigations initiated by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission. She is dedicated to giving back to her community and maintains an active pro bono practice. She is currently a volunteer at Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services and represents individuals fleeing gang violence in affirmative and defensive asylum proceedings.

Ms. Agarwal was recognized by her peers and selected as a Rising Star by the Washington, DC Super Lawyers Magazine in 2014 and 2015. In December 2011, she served as the guest speaker for the first naturalization ceremony presided by the Honorable Judge Robert Wilkins of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Megan Gajewski Barnhill counsels foreign and domestic clients on regulatory matters related to international business transactions. Specifically, Ms. Barnhill advises clients on regulatory issues related to international trade, including U.S. export controls, trade sanctions, anti-boycott, registration and reporting under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and anti-corruption.

Ms. Barnhill regularly advises clients on issues related to U.S. export controls administered by the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, and the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security. She has experience conducting due diligence reviews and compliance audits, drafting comprehensive compliance programs, drafting license and agreement applications, preparing commodity jurisdiction and classification requests, preparing voluntary disclosures, responding to government requests for information and administrative subpoenas, and assisting in day-to-day compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and with export controls on nuclear activities and materials administered by the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Ms. Barnhill also assists clients with understanding, preparing for, and complying with regulatory changes, including changes in regulations as a result of the administration’s Export Control Reform effort.

In addition, Ms. Barnhill counsels clients on issues related to trade sanctions administered by the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), including sanctions programs related to countries (e.g., Iran, Syria, and Cuba) and against individuals and entities. Ms. Barnhill has assisted clients in preparing license applications and in responding to administrative subpoenas related to trade sanctions issues. She also advises clients on compliance with the anti-boycott provisions administered by the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Treasury, on compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and on companies’ and individuals’ registration and reporting obligations under the FARA.

For over 15 years, Geoffrey M. Goodale has assisted companies of all sizes in many industries develop and implement strategies to accomplish their international business goals. His practice focuses on export controls, economic sanctions, import compliance, trade litigation, international intellectual property rights protection, foreign direct investment, cybersecurity, and compliance counseling to government contractors.

Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Mr. Goodale counsels companies on a wide range of issues relating to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that are administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) that are enforced by the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), and the economic sanctions laws and regulations that are administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In addition to providing training on these regulations, designing compliance manuals, and assisting clients with all aspects of the export license and agreement approvals processes, he conducts internal reviews and audits to assess compliance in these areas and helps clients develop and implement effective corrective action strategies, including the drafting and submission of voluntary disclosures when warranted.

Import Compliance Mr. Goodale advises clients on all aspects of compliance with U.S. import laws and regulations, including those relating to determining the proper classification, valuation, and country of origin of merchandise. He regularly represents clients in matters involving U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including in the preparation and submission of ruling requests, protests, petitions for relief, and prior disclosures to CBP. In addition, he assists clients in preparing for and undergoing CBP audits (e.g., Focused Assessments). He also assists clients in developing duty savings strategies through the effective use of duty drawback, foreign trade zones and subzones, preferential duty programs (e.g., GSP, AGOA, and CBTPA), and free trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

Trade Litigation and Protection of Intellectual Property Rights Mr. Goodale’s experience includes representing U.S. and non-U.S. companies in all manner of antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cases before the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), including investigations, administrative reviews, scope ruling requests, and anti-circumvention proceedings, as well as in appeals of certain such DOC and ITC decisions to the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). He also has represented complainants and respondents in trade-related intellectual property rights cases that have been filed with the ITC under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and appeals of certain such ITC decisions to the CAFC. In addition, he assists clients in developing global strategies to protect their patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights.

Foreign Direct Investment Mr. Goodale possesses extensive experience in advising clients on international mergers and acquisitions (M&A). With respect to acquisitions by foreign entities of U.S. companies, this experience includes, among other things: (1) taking actions necessary to clear proposed deals through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) when appropriate; (2) filing required submissions with DDTC and/or BIS when export-controlled products and technologies are involved; and (3) structuring transactions so as to mitigate foreign ownership, control or influence (FOCI) in a way that is acceptable to the Defense Security Service (DSS) in order for the U.S. company to maintain its Facility Security Clearance (FCL) in order to be able to continue to perform work on classified contracts for the U.S. Government.

Compliance Counseling and Investigations Mr. Goodale also provides compliance counseling to government contractors on a wide range of matters covered by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). He regularly advises clients on issues relating to cybersecurity, data rights, IP protection, supply chain management, sourcing issues, and domestic content requirements (e.g., Buy American Act, Berry Amendment, and Trade Agreements Act). In addition, he provides counseling to clients relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and he conducts internal investigations to ensure that clients comply with the requirements of the FCPA and other anti-bribery laws, such as the UK Bribery Act.

Appointments, Affiliations, and Thought Leadership Activities By appointment of the Chief Judge of the CIT, Mr. Goodale is a member of the CIT Advisory Committee on Rules. He also serves as Co-Chair of the ABA Section of International Law’s Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee, Chair of the ABA Intellectual Property Law Section’s International Trade Commission Committee, and Chair of the International Trade Commission Subcommittee of the Trade Secret Law Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). In addition, he has previously served as the Chair of the D.C. Bar’s International Law Section, the Chair of the Virginia State Bar’s International Practice Section, and Co-Chair of the ABA Section of International Law’s Customs Law Committee and International Trade Committee. Mr. Goodale also is a member of the Customs and International Trade Bar Association (CITBA), the Federal Circuit Bar Association (FCBA), the International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association (ITCTLA), and the Society for International Affairs (SIA).

Mr. Goodale speaks regularly on international trade issues at conferences and seminars. In addition, he is the author of the chapter on the ITAR in the Handbook of Export Controls and Economic Sanctions published by the ABA in 2013 and a co-author of several chapters in the second edition of the ABA’s U.S. Customs: A Practitioner’s Guide to Principles, Processes and Procedures that was published in early 2016.

Melissa Stear Gorsline has a wide variety of experience in international commercial litigation and arbitration, with a particular focus on public international law, treaty-based international investment arbitration, and quasi-criminal claims, such as RICO, ATA, TVPA, and ATS. She has experience arbitrating complex matters before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the AAA, and ad hoc tribunals constituted under the UNCITRAL arbitration rules. She has been involved in complex international and multijurisdictional matters before federal and state courts and has practiced before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Ms. Gorsline also has significant experience in Section 1782 discovery and other litigation related to foreign or international proceedings. In connection with these matters, she has addressed issues unique to representing non-U.S. corporations in the courts of the United States and U.S. corporations with respect to legal matters abroad.

Ms. Gorsline played an integral role in some of the earliest international investment arbitrations brought pursuant to Chapter Eleven of NAFTA. She has significant experience in claims for denial of justice, denial of fair and equitable treatment, nationalistic discrimination, and expropriation. Likewise, she has successfully represented clients in matters involving cutting-edge issues of the RICO, ATA, ATS, and TVPA statutes, particularly those involving questions of causation. She has significant experience representing clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in RICO matters.

Stefanie Holland is the Director of International Government and Regulatory Affairs for the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), where she is responsible for the development, advocacy, and implementation of CompTIA’s public policy positions with respect to international trade. Previously she served as Director, International Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 2007-2016, where she worked on successful campaigns to win congressional passage of trade agreements with a handful of nations, including, most recently, Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. She played a key role in the Chamber’s international business priorities and promoting the Chamber’s international trade agenda including: Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank on behalf of the business community.

Ms. Holland is the President for the organization Women in International Trade (WIIT) and previously served on its Board and as co-chair for the WIIT Legislative Initiatives Committee. Prior to joining the Chamber, she worked at Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR), a premier lobbying firm in Washington, DC. She holds a Master’s of Arts in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from St. Norbert College in DePere, WI.

John Huddle has been engaged in an international transactions practice on behalf of a diverse group of U.S. and foreign clients for 33 years. Prior to founding The Global Law Group, PLC in 2002, he organized and chaired the international practice group of one of the largest law firms in Virginia, and he was a shareholder and Director in that firm.

Mr. Huddle’s U.S. practice is national in scope, and his foreign clients hail from a wide range of countries. He regularly serves as lead counsel for foreign and domestic clients in transnational sales, licensing, distribution transactions, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, export regulatory compliance matters, foreign and domestic trademark registrations and portfolio management, and U.S. export tax incentive programs. He is a frequent speaker at international and domestic CLE, international trade and other business law conferences on Free Trade Agreements and other international legal and business matters. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce appointed Mr. Huddle to the U.S. District Export Council in 2003 and as its Chair from 2005-2009, and he has been re-appointed to the Council for successive terms since that time. He has authored numerous articles for national and regional publications, including “Domestic Sales and Services Qualify for U.S. Export Tax Incentives,” Virginia Lawyer Magazine (June, 2016) and “International Sales Intermediary Contracts: Strategies for Success and Traps for the Unwary” Virginia Lawyer Magazine (April, 2013). He is Chair of the Business Law Section of the Virginia State Bar, and he is a former Chair and current Board member of the International Practice Section of the Virginia State Bar.

Mr. Kuhn practices in the areas of commercial, corporate, employment, and business immigration law, with a strong emphasis on international matters. He represents U.S. companies engaged in projects in the U.S. and abroad as well as European companies with business interests in the U.S.

Mr. Kuhn’s experience includes counseling corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies on legal matters arising under both U.S. and International law. Having practiced in both the U.S. and Germany, Mr. Kuhn has unique expertise particularly in assisting European clients in understanding and complying with the laws of those jurisdictions by explaining applicable legal requirements in terms that are understandable. He has assisted European management in establishing investment and inbound immigration projects in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. In this capacity, he has assisted non-U.S. employers with decisions relating to hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, discipline, discharge, layoff, handbooks, employment contracts, employee leasing agreements, non-compete and confidentiality agreements as well as other terms and conditions of employment. Mr. Kuhn’s education and previous experience are also useful in counseling U.S. clients seeking to establish operations in Europe and elsewhere with respect to applicable labor and employment laws, as well as other pertinent legal requirements.

Mr. Kuhn has represented a variety of emerging technology companies including biotech, high-tech manufacturing, software and microelectronics. He has also worked for the multi-national corporations Hewlett-Packard and Upjohn. Additionally, he has gained in-depth knowledge of legal as well as non-legal business issues (i.e., human resources, marketing, sales, cultural issues) that are necessary to understand the specific needs of clients doing business abroad, enabling him to find cost-effective business solutions based on practical experience.

Mr. Kuhn is an active member of the German American Law Association; he currently serves as chair of the German American Business Association in Richmond and is a board member of the International Practice Section of the Virginia State Bar. Mr. Kuhn regularly speaks on international, commercial and employment law matters before business, student and bar groups, and has published numerous articles on U.S. business, employment and immigration law issues.