Overview
Carolyn B. Gleason is the head of the firm’s Trade, Agriculture, and EU Regulatory Practice Group.
Carolyn has extensive experience in all areas of trade relief, including US antidumping, countervailing duty and safeguards actions; actions under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974; and World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement actions. On behalf of a wide range of industries, companies, and sovereign governments, she has achieved numerous successful litigation outcomes and rulings on important trade issues of first impression.
In addition to her trade cases, for over four decades, Carolyn has counseled and advocated for industries on global and US trade policy matters, including on a full range of issues and concerns involving tariffs, market access, and trade negotiations, among others. She also counsels clients on a wide range of customs, trade compliance, and trade sanctions matters. She has extensive experience on sanitary and phytosanitary concerns and export assistance programs.
To support her trade remedy and trade policy advocacy, Carolyn regularly represents clients before US agencies involved in US trade policy and enforcement, including the White House, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, the US Department of Agriculture, the US State Department, and others. She has substantial experience as a testifying panelist before Executive and Legislative bodies and the International Trade Commission on trade remedy, policy, and legislative matters.
Carolyn has received, by invitation, a degree from the Japanese Business Study Program from the Institute of International Studies and Training in Japan
Results
- Successfully led numerous trade remedy proceedings, several on behalf of US agribusiness interests
- Led the trade team that is widely credited with having innovated, launched, and litigated the “Banana Wars” and with negotiating two major WTO agreements aimed at settling the case; this long-standing dispute has included 13 successful GATT and WTO actions and two successful settlement agreements
- Represented and delivered positive negotiating results for clients across numerous industries and in virtually every major US bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiation for over four decades
- Successfully represented a large agribusiness company in international arbitration over breach of contract and complex EU trade rules
- Managed the policy dimensions of a major roll-out throughout Asia of a new-to-market product
- Successfully represented a leading global provider of computer services in achieving improved access to China’s market
- Represented major agribusiness interests on sanctions and other compliance issues
Recognitions
- The Best Lawyers in America, International Trade and Finance Law, 2021-2024,2026
- Legal 500 United States, 2016-2019, 2022-2024
- Women in Business Law Expert Guide, International Trade, 2017 and 2020
Credentials
Education
Georgetown University Law Center, JD, 1981
Johns Hopkins University, BA, 1978
Admissions
District of Columbia
