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Our Regulatory and Government Affairs practice benefits from the Firm's wide-ranging experience in various market sectors and the broad resources of the entire White & Case network, particularly in New York, Washington, DC, Brussels, Miami, Los Angeles, Berlin, London, Paris, Geneva, Hamburg, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Moscow and Warsaw. As our clients’ operations, the associated risks and applicable regulations become increasingly global, our worldwide presence is a strategic asset. By frequently collaborating among offices on various projects, we are able to offer an in-depth understanding of national legal and political environments, which can be combined, if necessary, with inclusive multi-jurisdictional strategies.
Our international team advises clients on compliance with laws and regulations in the United States, the European Union (EU) and its Member States, as well as many other countries and regions; counsels sovereigns on necessary law reforms in emerging market economies; advises on treaty negotiations involving trade, taxation and investment; builds and implements lobbying strategies on ongoing regulatory and legislative developments; and represents sovereigns and state-owned entities in litigations and proceedings arising from issues of public international law.
The integration of our other practices with the Regulatory and Government Affairs enables us to offer comprehensive solutions to clients on a wide range of issues, including:
European Union Law
We were the first law firm in Brussels to develop a comprehensive EU Regulatory and Government Affairs practice, which provides a unique combination of legal and public affairs advice. In addition to ensuring that our clients comply with existing EU law and its implementation by EU Member States, we also provide them with advice on how to intervene pro-actively in Europe’s decision-making process. Our government affairs lawyers and advisers assist clients by monitoring, lobbying and intervening in EU legislative and policy developments, through contacts with EU decision-makers in the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council. We also draft opinions and submissions for decision-makers, as well as suggestions for amendments to proposed measures.
Clients from various sectors (telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, IT, energy, chemicals, consumer electronics, and financial services in particular) thus rely on our strong European Union law practice in order to find a one-stop solution for all their legal and public affairs issues.
Lawyers in the Brussels office have been involved in a number of celebrated cases involving law and public policy over the years, for many diverse clients in different sectors.
Environment
We advise clients on compliance issues across the entire range of environmental regulations at international, EU and US federal, state and local levels and counsels on environmental matters before they become complex and costly legal problems. This includes advice on the permitting of industrial production facilities, cleanup of contaminated sites, reduction of noise and air emissions, emissions trading, chemical regulations, waste regulations and restrictions on hazardous substances.
In the US, we advise clients on compliance with or potential liability under US legislation including CERCLA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and analogous state laws. We also advise on lender liability, fiduciary liability and officer and director liability under environmental laws. In the EU, our advice on REACH, RoHS, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and the treatment of waste is currently of key importance to our clients.
Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare
Our pharmaceuticals and healthcare lawyers have helped shape the law in many areas of significance to the industry. We have regular dealings with national and international regulatory bodies, both in the context of defending our clients in regulatory proceedings and as regards lobbying on their behalf to affect changes in proposed legislation or decisions. We advise on all aspects of how to intervene pro-actively in Europe’s decision-making process and monitor political developments which may have an impact on our clients’ business activities.
In Europe, we have in particular advised a number of blue-chip pharma companies on the adoption of the EU’s Pharmaceutical Review legislation package, measures against counterfeiting, the application of the Transparency Directive on pricing and reimbursement in the Member States, and the adoption process of the Directive on the Patentability of Biotechnological Inventions.
Law Reform
In emerging market economies, White & Case advises on, reviews or drafts privatization, capital markets, and corporatization regulations and legislation. Our lawyers counsel on laws necessary to establish a market economy including those involving trust ownership, joint stock companies, partnerships and limited partnerships as part of the implementation of privatization, as well as laws and regulations in corporate law, real estate, antitrust and bankruptcy. In addition, we assist sovereigns with new capital markets regulation and legislation. For example, we advised on the legal framework for the Russian securities markets as advisors on the privatization program. Currently we are representing the Russian Federal Commission on Securities and the Capital Markets on the creation of the first independent registrar of securities.
White & Case has been involved in the law reforms needed for a market economy in many countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. We have also assisted in creating securities laws in these countries, as well as in Albania, Armenia, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.
International Trade
White & Case is unsurpassed in its breadth of experience, technical skills, and geographic coverage in the international trade area. As more markets have been liberalized and opened through bilateral and multilateral agreements, antidumping and countervailing duty codes, rules of origin, investment measures and safeguards have become the central arena for regulation of international trade. The Firm often provides counsel to sovereigns during multilateral, regional, and bilateral trade negotiations and advises on the potential ramifications of such agreements and conventions as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Uruguay Round General Agreement on Trade (GATT) 1994. We utilize that substantial experience in drafting countervailing duty and antidumping laws for sovereigns that are consistent with their multilateral, bilateral, and national concerns. We have drafted laws for the People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Turkey, and the firm is currently reviewing the trade laws of Uzbekistan. Uruguay Round GATT imposes obligations on the signatories to take certain actions before levying antidumping or countervailing duties, and White & Case has counseled several countries in preparing laws consistent with the codes. We also represent sovereigns in proceedings under antidumping and countervailing duty laws, as well as other types of trade relief laws.
Tax
The firm counsels sovereign clients around the world on the restructuring and administration of their tax laws, and advises them on the negotiation of tax treaties. In the United States, we have an active legislative tax practice, headquartered in our Washington, D.C., office, that advocates the positions of our clients on tax legislation. We assist our clients in working with Members of Congress, their staff and the Administration to shape federal tax legislation and regulation.
Public International Law
White & Case has substantial experience in this branch of law, which prescribes the rights and responsibilities of sovereigns towards each other and towards the people, businesses, and organizations of other states. We frequently counsel sovereigns on the potential ramifications of certain international conventions and the interpretation of agreements and treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The firm represents sovereigns in proceedings before the International Court of Justice in The Hague and in EU matters before the European Commission in Brussels or the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. We also act for sovereigns and state-owned entities in specialized tribunals and in arbitral tribunals. White & Case lawyers have represented the Republic of Indonesia in an ICSID arbitration with foreign investors arising out of its alleged expropriation of a hotel; the national oil company of an African state in a lawsuit brought against it by a Bermuda oil trading corporation involving questions of state succession; and the United States in the case brought against it by Libya at the International Court of Justice relating to the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Our Regulatory and Government Affairs practice also works in close relation with our sectoral practice groups, including:
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