McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Global trade rules shape how your business moves goods, capital, and technology – but they are increasingly fragmented, politicized, and enforced in real time. Our international trade lawyers help you navigate international trade law across jurisdictions, aligning compliance with your commercial goals so you can operate, transact, and grow with fewer disruptions.

With teams across key global trade centers and experience spanning policy, enforcement, and transactions, we help you anticipate risk, structure cross-border activity, and respond quickly as rules change. Our integrated approach connects international trade law with national security, regulatory, and transactional considerations – so your business can operate effectively as conditions evolve.

As sanctions, export controls, customs rules, technology restrictions, and national security regulations increasingly intersect, decisions in one area can create unintended exposure across your business. We guide you through overlapping US, EU, and UK trade and national security regulations, including:

• Sanctions and export controls
• CFIUS, foreign subsidies, and other national security investment reviews
• Customs, tariffs, and import compliance
• Supply chain controls, product compliance, forced labor requirements, and supply chain due diligence obligations
• Data transfer, cybersecurity, and technology restrictions
• Outbound investment and economic security restrictions

Trade risk cuts across sourcing, contracting, financing, and distribution. We help you assess exposure across counterparties, jurisdictions, and supply chains; design compliance programs that scale with your operations; and structure transactions with trade controls in mind. Our experience also extends to diligence tied to sanctions, export controls, customs, contractual protections, third-party risk management, and internal investigations and regulatory engagement.

Trade rules are often shaped through enforcement and policy decisions as much as through written law. We represent clients in trade remedies proceedings – WTO and trade agreement disputes, administrative proceedings before customs and regulatory agencies, and cross-border investigations, enforcement actions, litigation, and arbitration.

We also engage directly with policymakers and regulators to address tariffs, market access barriers, and trade policy developments. Drawing on extensive experience on Capitol Hill and before trade and regulatory authorities, we help advance your strategic objectives through targeted advocacy.

Global trade volatility can affect how you source, sell, invest, and grow. Our international trade lawyers manage that complexity with an integrated strategy – helping you navigate international trade regulation, pursue cross-border opportunities, and move your business forward in a changing global trade environment.

At the firm, we help clients reduce the uncertainties associated with dispute resolution. We ensure that clients understand the strategies available to them, the potential costs of pursing those strategies, and the key distinction between short-term victory and long-term success.

Our practice includes many recognized trial lawyers and specialized litigators in the United States and Europe. We advise clients from most industries and have earned a particularly strong reputation for helping major, multinational clients win big-ticket cases. The strength of our lawyers is based on the fundamental principle that excellence in client service mandates deep substantive knowledge in a broad range of industries and areas of the law, and―when required―incomparable ability and success in the courtroom.

Our lawyers possess superior trial skills, deep substantive knowledge and the flexibility to draw from the Firm’s deep bench to assemble strong, lean teams. Frequently, our trial lawyers team with in-house resources, such as our premier health care, life sciences, employee benefits or product liability lawyers, to provide truly best-in-class advocacy. This synthesis of skill and experience, along with a record of success in high-stakes controversies, is why we are a go-to-firm for large-scale, complex litigation.

Alternative dispute resolution

Our lawyers represent businesses, investors and states in a broad range of settlement negotiations, mediations and arbitrations under the auspices of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and several other arbitral bodies. The group also regularly prosecutes and defends against litigations related to domestic and international arbitration, including actions to compel arbitration, actions to enforce arbitral awards and actions for injunctive relief in aid of international arbitration. Our ADR team lawyers are located across two continents, and a number have served as arbitrators in AAA and international arbitrations.

Appellate advocacy

Our nationally recognized Appellate Practice Group comprises highly experienced lawyers in our US offices who have successfully handled hundreds of appeals. Our group includes partners who have argued appeals in the US Supreme Court, the 13 circuits of the US courts of appeals, and numerous state appellate courts. Members of our group have served as judicial law clerks at all levels of the federal judiciary. We are frequently retained to file friend-of-court briefs in cases of national importance in the US Supreme Court and various other appellate courts.

Financial institutions

Our litigators represent banks and other financial institutions in a variety of complex litigation matters, including consumer and securities class actions, securities fraud and derivative litigation. We also represent institutions and individual executives in disputes involving director and officer liability, lender liability, loan workouts and regulatory issues. We regularly conduct internal investigations on behalf of clients and provide vigorous representation in investigations and enforcement proceedings brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), stock exchanges, and other self-regulatory organizations, as well as various state securities enforcement agencies.

Hospitality

Our dedicated hospitality team includes litigators with experience in all aspects of our clients’ businesses, including acquisitions, development and financing; labor, immigration, employment and employee benefits; construction and real estate; data privacy; operations, management and service contracts; portfolio management; and tax. We have advised many of the world’s leading hospitality brands and developers, in the United States and globally.

Professional responsibility

As professional service providers ourselves, we understand the costs associated with allegations of professional misconduct or malpractice. We represent lawyers, accountants and others on the full range of professional responsibility matters, including defense of malpractice claims, securities class actions, regulatory and ethics investigations, partnership disputes, insurance coverage issues, RICO claims, audit and tax controversies, white-collar criminal defense, and other litigation. Drawing on our in-depth understanding of professional ethics and our strong courtroom skills, we have successfully represented some of the largest global professional services firms in sensitive and high-stakes cases, and in proceedings before the SEC, PCAOB, and other regulatory bodies.

At the forefront of data innovation and what’s next

Whether you are navigating the increasingly complex web of emerging privacy laws, responding to a data incident, unleashing the power of the data you collect, finding ways to safeguard the valuable information you hold or otherwise in need of a data-based “gut check,” our global privacy & cybersecurity team provides the practical guidance to minimize risk and drive your business forward.

Clients turn to our award-winning team for risk-based insights rooted in commercially oriented advice informed by regulatory expertise. Having worked in-house and been seconded to some of the most well-known companies, we understand our clients’ expectations and the need to identify realistic risk priorities and maximize business opportunities. Our team comprises engineers and computer coders, former senior government officials and cybercrime prosecutors. In addition, we helped draft the laws—we contributed to the legislative process to develop the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and served at the European Commission leading deliberations over the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the e-Privacy regulation. We help you plan and prepare for the full lifecycle of data privacy needs, from proactive privacy and security counseling to incident response and regulatory and civil litigation.

Corporations across a wide range of industries partner with us to solve their most complex challenges, including:

• Developing global “soup to nuts” privacy and cybersecurity compliance programs
• Navigating evolving state and international privacy laws and sector-specific cybersecurity requirements
• Addressing the increased scrutiny and attention on privacy and cybersecurity from regulators, plaintiffs’ bar, vendors, insurers, customers and consumers
• Implementing “reasonable” cybersecurity and privacy standards that survive regulatory oversight and litigation
• Combatting increasingly sophisticated threat actors
• Developing scalable frameworks for evaluating vendors and corporate acquisition targets
• Developing data collection, monetization and digital marketing strategies
• Counseling on product development
• Advising on the cross-border transfer of personal data
• Maintaining attorney-client privilege and work product protections for internal investigations
• Deploying efficient and effective templates and resources

Effective anticorruption compliance is critical to any company operating internationally. We regularly conduct internal investigations of reported concerns under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-bribery laws to determine the veracity of allegations and to advise companies on responding effectively, including taking steps to reduce opportunities for future misconduct. We also defend companies and individuals in government enforcement and regulatory investigations by authorities in the United Statesand other countries.

We leverage our investigations and defense experience to assist clients in developing effective compliance programs and with appropriate compliance policies, procedures and training designed to enhance rather than disrupt business operations. We conduct global compliance risk assessments to help our clients make informed decisions on how to allocate compliance resources. We assist clients in conducting anticorruption due diligence and drafting strong contracts in cross-border deals and engagements of third-party representatives in order to mitigate the significant anticorruption risks those relationships present.

Our team includes former senior lawyers from the US Department of Justice (DOJ), US attorneys' offices and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and individuals with deep in-house compliance, computer forensics and accounting experience, who collaborate to provide clients with the multidisciplinary experience and counsel that anticorruption matters often require.

Healthcare organizations face increasing government scrutiny and private whistleblower activity, and frequent regulatory and policy changes—all of which pose greater financial and reputational costs than ever before. We offer unmatched guidance in navigating this complex legal environment to help our clients minimize risk while reaching their goals.

If an investigation or litigation is unavoidable, our healthcare defense team efficiently and effectively achieves the best possible result for our clients, so they can focus on what they do best—innovating and revolutionizing the healthcare industry.

We anticipate problems and proactively develop solutions.

We understand you have a business to run, and we can help by minimizing the distraction that comes with subpoenas, investigations and litigation. Our healthcare litigation, regulatory, compliance and transactional practitioners work together to address every aspect of a legal problem in a layered approach that includes leveraging our industry-leading experience, following trends and staying on top of ever-changing laws, rules and guidance.

Our unrivaled understanding of the business of operating hospitals, health systems, healthcare providers, life sciences and technology companies—down to the complicated reimbursement structure and rules, at both the federal and state level—is critical in a world where billing government payors is a source of constant scrutiny. And our skilled team works tirelessly to help clients on many fronts, including identifying and avoiding unnecessary risks, responding quickly and effectively in a crisis, efficiently defending any investigation or qui tam complaint, and negotiating the best possible outcomes with the government and private parties. We routinely handle matters under the False Claims Act, the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, HIPAA, corporate governance, cybersecurity, pharmaceutical marketing and pricing, and disputes among payers and providers.

Made up of well-respected and nationally renowned lawyers across the United States and around the world, our team includes:

• Several former Assistant United States Attorneys and healthcare fraud lawyers from the US Department of Justice
• Former senior advisors, lawyers and professionals from the HHS Office of Inspector General and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• A best-in-class regulatory and compliance team that wrote a leading treatise on the Stark Law and includes nationally recognized authorities on the Anti-Kickback Statute and its safe harbor regulations
• Transactional lawyers experienced in negotiating healthcare transactions involving complex regulatory and compliance issues

Our team’s robust experience helps us deliver optimal results in healthcare litigation and investigations, and provide the necessary compliance guidance to help clients operate smoothly and avoid running into new issues.

While we are—and will continue to be—on the front lines of some of the largest and most important cases shaping the healthcare industry, our goal is to prevent problems from ever reaching the courtroom. Our clients come to us because they know they will get the best possible advice to minimize the likelihood of investigation or litigation. The comprehensive breadth and depth of our knowledge and experience enables us to spot issues before they become problems. Working as partners with our industry-leading healthcare regulatory and transactional lawyers, we help clients avoid investigations, litigations and crises. Yet, if litigation is unavoidable, our team of seasoned, first-chair trial lawyers is experienced in aggressively and effectively defending healthcare litigation.

As the only law firm to receive national Tier 1 rankings in healthcare from all of the industry’s top legal directories—Chambers USA, The Legal 500 USA and U.S. News – Best Lawyers—we’ve earned our reputation by leading the legal strategies on some of the most important cases in the healthcare industry and stand ready to help you take on yours.

Securities litigation remains an ongoing threat to businesses and financial institutions. Our SEC Enforcement group is composed of lawyers - including former senior members of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Enforcement - who possess substantial experience covering the full spectrum of securities enforcement activity. Our lawyers are knowledgeable about the SEC as an agency, including its rules, practices and customs, and maintain excellent relations with staff of the Enforcement Division and Office of General Counsel.

Clients rely on us to provide legal defense against securities litigation. We have secured favorable results stemming from investigations and enforcement proceedings, on behalf of public companies, their audit committees, officers, directors and senior management, as well as financial services firms, broker deals, investment advisors, hedge funds and accounting firms.

Our capabilities cover all aspects of SEC and other regulatory investigations, as well as parallel proceedings, private class actions and derivative litigation. We have been successful in deterring the SEC at various stages of enforcement investigations and frequently persuade the SEC either not to take any action against our clients or to reduce the nature and scope of the charges, including the elimination of fraud-based charges.

We have demonstrated success - civil and criminal - bringing trials to verdict in federal district courts and handling administrative proceedings at the federal and state level, and we possess substantial appellate experience in the appeal of administrative decisions to the SEC and to the US circuit courts.

As a testament to the mutual respect between our practice and the commission, we have successfully petitioned the SEC to appear as amicus curiae in favor of a client's position in private securities litigation. The SEC also has called upon members of our group to act as receivers in the SEC civil enforcement proceedings. This cumulative experience differentiates us from the competition, ultimately providing clients with the best legal representation to achieve a favorable outcome.