Overview
(November 1, 2021, Washington, DC) — Steptoe has been named "Sanctions Law Firm of the Year, USA" by WorldECR magazine. This is the second consecutive time the firm has won this award since its inception, having previously won the "Export Controls Law Firm of the Year, USA" in 2015 and 2016.
The WorldECR Awards was launched in 2015 by one of the leading legal publishers providing news, insight and investigation on global export control and sanctions to "recognize outstanding work, vision, best practice, commercial benefit to the company, and contribution to international security of organizations and individuals working in the fields of export control and sanctions compliance and nonproliferation."
The judging panel for the 2021 Awards recognized Steptoe's sanctions team as "a long-standing, highly-regarded economic sanctions practice that advises clients on high-stakes, cross-border compliance, risk management and enforcement issues." In particular, the two recent high-profile cases lauded the firm’s unique combined sanctions and white-collar capabilities: the representation of Huawei CFO, Meng Wanzhou, in her battle against extradition from Canada to the US on Iran sanctions-related bank fraud charges, and the representation of Ali Sadr, an American-educated businessman born in Iran, in his high-profile criminal sanctions case that ultimately resulted in the judge dismissing the indictment against him with prejudice.
The publisher also noted the team's expansion, both in the United States with arrival of partner David Stetson, a former Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) official and a senior in-house lawyer, and in Asia, with the addition of a top ranked team of sanctions and export controls lawyers in Hong Kong led by Wendy Wysong, a former prosecutor and Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). WorldECR noted that these hires have added to the firms "…capabilities and geographic presence with well-known former government officials."
Furthermore for the first time, Steptoe was named runner-up in the "Export Controls/Sanctions Law Firm of the Year, Rest of World" category. It was noted that the team's recent expansion in Asia "has made a significant impact in the Hong Kong market, building a strong market profile and attracting a wide range of new clients to the firm."
For more information, visit WorldECR.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.