Shana A. Hofstetter is a counsel in the international trade practice. Ms. Hofstetter’s practice focuses on the intersection between trade remedies and international trade policy. She represents both foreign companies and governments in all aspects of antidumping and countervailing duty investigations before the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission. She represents U.S. companies that import goods involved in safeguard (section 201) investigations and national security (section 232) investigations. Ms. Hofstetter represents clients in all stages of the investigative process, from representation before federal agencies to litigation before U.S. federal courts, NAFTA arbitration tribunals, and the WTO. Ms. Hofstetter works with clients to plan and implement effective trade strategies within a rapidly changing international trade landscape.
Before joining Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Ms. Hofstetter worked as an attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel for Trade Enforcement and Compliance in the U.S. Department of Commerce, where she focused on antidumping and countervailing duty laws and represented the department before the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body, including the Appellate Body. While she was at Commerce, Ms. Hofstetter’s work focused on U.S. relations with China, including participating in two of the largest cases in WTO history: DS 437 (US – Countervailing Duty Measures on Certain Products from China) and DS 471 (US – Certain Methodologies and Their Application to Antidumping Proceedings Involving China).
Prior to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Ms. Hofstetter worked at the World Bank as a consultant and at Columbia University at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a think tank headed by Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz. At the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Ms. Hofstetter coordinated programs to support research on economic policies in developing countries. Ms. Hofstetter researched the economic and political situations in developing countries and worked with local nongovernmental organizations and governments to foster ongoing discussions on economic policy options beyond those supported by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
During law school, Ms. Hofstetter served as a law clerk at the National Center for State Courts in Prishtina, Kosovo, where she worked on Kosovo’s first human trafficking case.Ms. Hofstetter received her J.D. in 2008 from William & Mary Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Women and the Law. She received her LL.M. in international commercial and trade law with merit from Queen Mary College, University of London in 2009 and her B.A. cum laude in French studies from Smith College in 2001.
Representative Work:
- Representing U.S. importers before the U.S. Department of Commerce in the national security (Section 232) investigations of aluminum and steel, including during the post-investigation product exclusion request procedure
- Representing U.S. importers before the U.S. Department of Commerce to obtain a scope exclusion from antidumping and countervailing duty orders through changed circumstance reviews
- Representing pro bono clients to obtain U visas to gain legal immigration status in the United States
- Representing the Government of British Columbia in the expedited review of the countervailing duty order on supercalendered paper, the countervailing duty investigation of softwood lumber, and the ongoing countervailing duty investigation of uncoated groundwood paper.
- Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada (NAFTA); representing the Government of British Columbia in an appeal challenging various aspects of Commerce’s final determination in a countervailing duty investigation
- Representing U.S. utility company before the U.S. International Trade Commission in the safeguard (Section 201) investigation of solar cells and modules
Affiliations:
- Greater DC Diaper Bank – Ambassador and member of the development committee
- Customs and International Trade Bar Association – Young Lawyers Committee
Education:
- LL.M., Queen Mary, University of London, with merit, 2009
- J.D., College of William and Mary School of Law, 2008
- B.A., Smith College, cum laude, 2001
Bar Admissions:
- District of Columbia
- New York
Cost
Rate : $$$
