Matt is an Associate in Addleshaw Goddard's Global Investigations team based in London. He specialises in international trade compliance and financial crime. He has particular experience advising clients on the impact of international sanctions measures, EU and UK export control requirements and anti-bribery matters. He has extensive experience advising clients on issues arising from sanctions measures on Iran and Russia. Matt provides day-to-day support to a number of large UK companies on operational compliance and supply chain issues, helps companies to implement robust and effective internal controls and manages regulatory investigations into suspected compliance violations.
Matt was educated at the University of Warwick (European Law) (2007) and the University of Bordeaux (French law) (2006). Prior to joining Addleshaw Goddard in 2017, Matt was a member of the International Trade team at a US law firm.
Robert Bell has over 20 years of experience advising on complex competition and regulatory matters involving some of the leading cases before the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the European Commission and UK and European Courts.
He advises clients on a range of competition law issues including merger control, cartels, restrictive practices, competition litigation and public procurement law.
Mr. Bell has a particular sector specialism in advising international technology and media clients on the application of competition law and new media, telecommunications regulation, and on competition litigation.
He is currently Chair of the City of London Law Society's Competition Law Committee, which liaises with the UK Government and the EU & UK competition regulators in connection with the reform of competition law and practice.
Mr. Bell is ranked in Chambers UK 2016 for Competition Law. "Robert Bell is head of department at Bryan Cave LLP. His practice encompasses mergers, cartels, litigation and public procurement. He has sector expertise within the TMT sector." Mr. Bell is also recognised in The Legal 500 UK 2014 for EU & Competition Law.
Zhiwei Chen concentrates his practice on international trade, customs and regulatory compliance law.
Clients benefit from his extensive experience and insight in managing the risks and maximizing the opportunities associated with China’s increasing regulation of international trade in goods and services. Mr. Chen brings to clients an unusual blend of regulatory, transactional, and litigation experience, which makes him a trusted adviser on various complex China customs and regulatory compliance issues.
With his nuanced understanding of regulatory landscapes, Mr. Chen regularly helps multinational and Fortune 500 clients create business strategies to optimize supply chain models, develop corporate compliance procedures and provide training, conduct internal audits or investigations and navigate self-disclosure to customs and other regulatory agencies. Clients also regularly call up Mr. Chen to represent them in customs audits and in dealing with seizures, forfeitures and other enforcement actions. He has successfully defended Fortune 500 companies in a number of high-profile customs audit and investigation cases, including a primary case investigated directly under the supervision of China's General Administration of Customs.
Mr. Chen's practice also extends to other China regulatory issues, including cross-border e-commerce, inspections and quarantine, cybersecurity law, encryption law, compulsory product certification, product safety standards, labeling, and food, drug and medical device registration issues.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Chen was a practicing attorney at a leading customs and trade compliance law firm in Shanghai. In this capacity, he advised multinational clients on a wide range of China customs issues, including customs valuation, classification, country of origin, processing trade, transfer pricing, royalty and license fees, export control, export tax refund, inspection and quarantine, free trade agreement (FTA) benefits, authorized economic operators (AEO) matters, customs special supervision zones, customs compliance audit, voluntary self-disclosure, customs investigation, white-collar crime and criminal defense. Mr. Chen also has experience in World Trade Organization (WTO) law. One of his most notable achievements was successfully representing the domestic industry in China’s first anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation case, which concerned imports of grain oriented flat-rolled electrical steel imported from the United States and Russia.
David Stepp provides strategic counsel on global customs and trade issues for clients located across the United States, Europe and Asia. His practice has a specific focus on customs compliance and counseling, including tariff classification, valuation, country of origin marking, free trade agreements, Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) participation and other international trade regulatory requirements. Mr. Stepp also regularly advises multinational companies on their e-commerce strategies globally, conducts global customs and international trade audits, and advises on improving, benchmarking and coordinating compliance programs across borders. His experience encompasses a broad array of industries, including motor vehicles, steel, textile and apparel products, footwear, retail, electronic products, cosmetics and other consumer goods.
Mr. Stepp has practiced in Los Angeles, Singapore and Washington, D.C. Early in his career, he was associated with a major U.S. customhouse broker and advised the company’s importing clients on U.S. customs practices and procedures. While in Washington, he represented electronics and automotive companies in the negotiation of the NAFTA rules of origin for their products. While in Singapore, he led initiatives focused on strategic business and professional development in Southeast Asia.
Mr. Stepp is active in the international trade and legal communities in California. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Northern California World Trade Center. He also taught the Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association’s semi-annual course for ten years, preparing students to take the customs brokers licensing test.
Mr. Stepp is a frequent author and speaker on global customs and international trade issues. His legal publications include articles on textile country of origin issues and an analysis of the criminal customs statutes in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. He also authored a guidebook on NAFTA procedures for a major U.S. electronics trade association and lectured in Japan on the scope and effect of the rules.
Clif Burns focuses his practice on export controls, economic sanctions, customs, national security and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. His clients are in a broad range of industries including lasers, software, medical devices, telecommunications, networking hardware, military equipment, financial services, travel and hospitality, and agriculture. In particular, he counsels clients in these areas on compliance matters as well as, in the case of violations, handling internal investigations, voluntary disclosures and criminal defense. In addition, he regularly assists in due diligence in these regulatory areas in connection with mergers and acquisitions as well as representing M&A clients in international transactions with national security implications before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Mr. Burns' export control work encompasses a broad range of areas and includes matters involving the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) administered by the Department of Commerce, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) administered by the State Department and the country-based economic sanctions program administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department. Mr. Burns also has broad experience in developing compliance programs for each of these three regulatory schemes, conducting due diligence for compliance with these schemes, and submitting voluntary disclosures of prior unlicensed exports. Customs matters have included judicial and administrative contest of penalties and seizures by Customs (most notably and arguing US v. Nitek Electronics, Inc., where the Federal Circuit overturned a significant penalty claim by Customs against an importer), advising importers on the proper classification and country of origin of imported and exported items, submitting voluntary disclosures on behalf of importers, and advising on the applicability of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on specific imports.
Companies represented by Mr. Burns are located in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and the United States.
Mr. Burns speaks French fluently. Mr. Burns is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Northwestern University Law Review and a law clerk for the Hon. Robert A. Sprecher on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Dr. Aurore Marchand, attorney-at-law, is a senior associate in the Commercial & Litigation department of Loyens & Loeff Luxembourg.
Aurore specialises in dispute resolution, and advises on commercial and civil law. Her areas of expertise also include insolvency law, international private law and financial sanctions.
Holding a doctorate in law and qualified to the functions of senior lecturer (Maître de conférences) (Private Law), Aurore is also adjunct senior lecturer at the University of Luxembourg where she teaches tort law and EU international private law.
Before joining Loyens & Loeff in November 2016, Aurore acquired six years of experience in the litigation department of a leading full service law firm, where she was a senior associate. Aurore was also a teaching assistant at the University of Nancy, where she taught contract law, liability law, trade law, family law, and international private law.
Aurore is the author of a book entitled "L'embargo en droit du commerce international", published by Larcier (2012) and of articles in various legal publications. Her scholarly publications focus on EU international private law and financial sanctions. She is also speaker at various conferences in particular in the area of financial sanctions.
Aurore was admitted to the Luxembourg bar in 2011.
Mr. Backhaus’ practice focuses on transactional and dispute resolution matters in a wide range of technical disciplines. He draws from his technical training and professional experience to counsel clients regarding a wide variety of matters, primarily related to the international nuclear industry. Mr. Backhaus has extensive experience working with engineers and technical experts to provide guidance in areas related to nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, thermal hydraulics, materials, computer modeling, fluid dynamics, cybersecurity, and statistics.
Mr. Backhaus has advised foreign governments on various aspects of developing domestic nuclear power programs and related infrastructure, including vendor procurement, agreements for the construction, operation, and fueling of nuclear power units, and the protection of sensitive technical and corporate information. He has represented materials licensees in responding to NRC enforcement actions and has provided legal advice in connection with administrative and appellate litigation.
Mr. Backhaus has represented clients before the International Court of Arbitration, has worked extensively in Asia, and has lived and worked in the Middle East.
Before attending law school, Mr. Backhaus served as an officer on the USS FLORIDA, a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine as the Reactor Control Assistant and the Assistant Chief Engineer. As the Assistant Chief Engineer, he oversaw a $400 M refueling of an S8G nuclear reactor and the training and management of more than 60 nuclear-trained personnel. Mr. Backhaus’ military experience provides him with a unique ability to identify and manage risk in order to successfully and efficiently complete complex undertakings.
Jennifer Kies Mammen’s practice focuses on federal criminal and regulatory investigations, internal investigations, consumer protection matters, commercial and white collar litigation, and security clearance matters. She has assisted clients under investigation by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She has been part of a team monitoring a large international corporation’s compliance with a DOJ consent decree. She has also represented clients in a variety of commercial litigation matters.
Ms. Mammen advises clients in a wide variety of consumer protection matters, including advertising, privacy and data protection. Ms. Mammen counsels clients regarding all aspects of regulatory compliance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as well as state and federal consumer protection laws and regulations.
Ms. Mammen frequently advises companies and individuals regarding security clearances, including all aspects of compliance with federal regulations relating to individual clearances, facility clearances, and foreign ownership and control of and influence over classified facilities. She has advised companies on structuring acquisitions and mergers to protect business-critical facility clearances and to comply with CFIUS requirements. She has also successfully represented individuals in gaining and retaining individual clearances at hearings before the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals.