Practice encompasses the spectrum of international trade and other international regulatory issues affecting multinational businesses and investors.
Counsel to foreign governments and multinational corporations in international negotiations and litigation, including disputes before the WTO and other international bodies.
Resident partner in Akin’s Geneva office.
Alan has been based in Geneva, Switzerland since 2001, from where he provides government and private sector clients with a global perspective on international trade and regulatory issues. This includes providing strategic advice on geopolitical issues, advising foreign exporters and investors on U.S. trade regulations, helping clients adapt to new European trade regulations, assisting clients in securing access for their products and services across a wide range of jurisdictions, and engaging with UN bodies and other international institutions.
Alan has extensive experience in trade and regulatory matters at the domestic, bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. He has helped clients successfully:
Develop and implement strategies to confront geopolitical challenges.
Analyze regulatory changes in various jurisdictions and assess their legality under international obligations.
Leverage FTAs to gain market access, reduce costs and mitigate supply chain risks.
Design and implement strategies for engagement with foreign governments and multilateral institutions.
Negotiate trade and other international agreements.
Litigate trade and other treaty-based disputes.
In addition, as resident partner in Akin’s Geneva office, Alan works closely with Swiss-based clients. Drawing on the multidisciplinary capabilities of attorneys and advisors across Akin’s offices around the globe, Alan collaborates with colleagues to offer full support to clients based in Switzerland and neighboring regions.
Representative Work
Assisted a Fortune 500 consumer products manufacturer in implementing strategies to maximize the advantages of free trade agreements to lower the tariff burden on its global exports and inputs.
Advised government and private sector clients on compliance with the European carbon border adjustment mechanism and its consistency with multilateral and FTA disciplines.
Leveraged an Akin expert team to assist a Swiss multinational with issues connected with the U.S. sanctions regime.
Advised client on consistency of draft digital markets regulation with international rules.
Designed and implemented a training program to train multi-agency governmental teams responsible for trade negotiations.
Advised a sovereign government throughout its trade negotiations with over 10 countries stretching across four continents.
Successfully represented a sovereign government in a highly contentious WTO dispute involving sensitive issues of national security.
Developed and implemented advocacy and legal strategies to successfully remove trade barriers affecting client’s exports to key markets.