WASHINGTON, March 13 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Sidley Austin LLP today announced that James Mendenhall has joined the firm as a partner in its International Trade and Dispute Resolution Practice. He is resident in the Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Mendenhall joins the firm from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, where he served as General Counsel.
"Jim Mendenhall is a respected leader in the international trade community, and we are proud that he is joining us," said Carter Phillips, Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C., office. "As a former General Counsel at USTR, Jim brings vast international trade and policy experience that will be of significant value to our clients."
Daniel Price, Chair of the firmwide International Trade and Dispute Resolution Practice, said, "Jim has been a leader in opening markets for services and investment and protecting intellectual property rights around the world. His experience with USTR gives him an incomparable perspective on trade policy and regulation. Jim’s abilities complement perfectly those of our global practice team."
While at USTR, Mr. Mendenhall managed U.S. dispute settlement activities under international trade agreements and supervised trade negotiations dealing with intellectual property, investment and services, including financial services. Over the past five years, he was at the center of many of the most important trade issues facing the Administration. Mr. Mendenhall’s accomplishments include serving as principal U.S. negotiator in talks leading to settlement of the long-standing dispute on U.S.-Canada softwood lumber trade, spearheading U.S. efforts to facilitate an international mechanism to control trade in conflict diamonds, handling the closing stages of a landmark agreement on WTO intellectual property rules and pharmaceutical patents and formulating the U.S. approach to Chinese intellectual property enforcement issues.
Mr. Mendenhall received his J.D. at Harvard Law School, where he graduated with honors, and his B.A., with highest honors, from the University of Notre Dame.
Sidley’s International Trade and Dispute Resolution Practice includes more than 50 professionals in our Brussels, Geneva and Washington, D.C. offices with extensive experience assisting clients worldwide on transactional, regulatory, dispute settlement and policy matters arising under international trade and investment agreements. Sidley was recently named Global WTO Law Firm of the Year by Chambers and Partners, and Global Trade & Customs Law Firm of the Year for 2005 and 2006 by the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world’s largest full-service law firms, with more than 1,700 lawyers practicing throughout the United States and in Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. In 2006, Sidley was named to Legal Business’ Global Elite, its designation for "the 15 finest law firms in the world." Sidley was again named the number one law firm for overall client service by BTI, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, in 2007. BTI has also named Sidley to its Client Service Hall of Fame, one of only two law firms to rank in the Client Service Top 10 for six years in a row.
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