© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(December 20)–Gardere Wynne Sewell added three international trade attorneys from Braumiller Schulz LLP to the firm’s Dallas office at the beginning of December. Michelle Schulz and Elsa Manzanares joined the firm as partners, while Kate Purdom joined as an associate.
Schulz said she and her colleagues knew their clients would benefit from the resources and expertise Gardere offers in practice areas that complement their international trade practice.
“We will now be able to leverage Gardere’s talent in Latin America, as well as international tax, international disputes, and many other areas,” said Schulz, who brings more than 12 years of international trade and customs experience to the firm. “Essentially, we can offer a one-stop international trade service to our clients.”
The University of Texas School of Law graduate currently serves as a senior-level advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce on the President’s Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA), where she said she gets to work on the front lines of Export Control Reform (ECR). Schulz says ECR will continue to change the ways in which exporters conduct business transactions.
”In addition, when we deal with export issues, we often find that export compliance intersects with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA),” she added. “Third-party agents and complex international transactions heighten liability exposure in a time of higher FCPA enforcement.”
Manzanares, also a University of Texas School of Law graduate, focuses her practice on compliance with domestic and international regulations governing export of dual-use commodities, defense articles, software and technology, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the U.S. Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) and the various embargo and sanctions programs administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Both Schulz and Manzanares volunteer as mentors for women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda through the Institute of Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW). Schulz said the women they meet through IEEW are truly inspirational.
Purdom focuses her practice on helping companies successfully navigate the extensive export control regulations, which include interpreting EAR, ITAR, FCPA and federal trade regulations.
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