Hal Shapiro

Hal S. Shapiro brings more than 25 years of experience at the center of government to help clients shape policy and comply with international trade treaties and other agreements. Through leadership roles at the National Economic Council and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, he gained valuable insights on different ways to affect treaty negotiation.

Hal is a sought-after commentator on high-profile international trade matters. He has served as assistant professor and deputy director of the Center for International and Comparative Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, and as an adjunct faculty member at American University Washington College of Law and Columbia University School of Law.

Multinational corporations, U.S. trade associations and foreign governments look to Hal for advice on:

• International business and policy issues involving aviation, chemicals, energy, military security and other industries.
• Legislative, regulatory and policy formation.
• International trade agreement negotiation and implementation.
• Litigation of disputes before the World Trade Organization and other internationaldispute resolution bodies.
• Import and export matters.
• Customs matters.
• Federal civil litigation.

Experience:

• Former Associate General Counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
• Former trial attorney, U.S. Department of Justice.
• Chair of the regulatory practice steering committee and past leader of the international trade practice.
• Former Senior Advisor for International Economic Affairs and Senior Counselor to the Director of the National Economic Council at the White House.

Representative Work:

• Providing advocacy and policy advice to a multibillion-dollar corporation with operations and assets in the United States and China on interfacing with governments around the world.
• Used a novel application of U.S. trade laws to convince the government of Argentina to pay moneys owed to a U.S. company for its work building a water treatment plant in Argentina. The investor/state claim resulted in a significant recovery for our client.
• Representing a U.S. investor in negotiations for the right to drill for oil in the Republic of Georgia.
• Created and obtained inspections and approvals for a groundbreaking enterprise that enabled the sale of U.S. helicopter equipment and technology to a U.A.E. defense company.
• Leading large teams on complex international arbitration and litigation in the International Court of Justice, the International Civil Aviation Organization and other fora.
• Represented United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) in gaining congressional approval for the U.S.-U.A.E. Agreement to Peaceful Civilian Nuclear Energy Cooperation. The agreement, which enabled the U.A.E. to receive nuclear training, materials and equipment from the United States, is known as the nonproliferation gold standard for nuclear cooperation agreements.

Affiliations:

• Senior Advisor for International Affairs and Senior Advisor to the Director, National Economic Council, 2000.
• Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, 1993 to 1996.
• Associate General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 1996 to 1998.

Education:

• J.D., Columbia Law School, 1991
• B.A., Columbia University, summa cum laude, 1988

Bar Admissions:

• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• New York