International Practice Blog | International Practice Section

This blog gives practical advice and valuable resources that focus on issues relating to international law. Published by the State Bar of Wisconsin's International Practice Section.

This section is devoted to issues affecting the international practice of law, promoting an understanding of and expertise in public and private international law, monitor relevant legislative and judicial developments, and provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among practitioners, academics and law students interested in international law and practice. The section presents CLE seminars and has co-sponsored CLE events in Mexico City, Toronto, and Michigan.

Members of the State Bar of Wisconsin may join the section by visiting https://www.wisbar.org/formembers/groups/pages/join-a-group.aspx (login required).

Section website: https://www.wisbar.org/forMembers/Groups/Sections/InternationalPracticeSection/pages/home.aspx

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By: International Practice Section | State Bar of Wisconsin

Blog Authors

Bethany C. Wilson
Steven E. Hendrix
Ngosong Fonkem
Marisol González Castillo
Jamie Lumsden
Helena Mietka
Benjamin T. Kurten
Andrew T. Schutz
John W. Vaudreuil

Latest from International Practice Blog | International Practice Section

Governments worldwide are facing growing demands for openness, transparency, and accountability.

As part of this shift, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) stands out as a pioneering international initiative committed to fostering government transparency and citizen engagement. Established in 2011, the OGP now includes 78 countries and numerous local governments, each dedicated to advancing these principles in governance.
What is the Open Government Partnership?
The OGP is an initiative founded to create more transparent and accountable governments by encouraging commitments…
Continue Reading Opening the Doors to Transparent Governance

The Mexican government has consulates all over the United States.

These centers are present in order to help Mexican citizens living abroad in the United States or non-Mexican citizens that need to obtain paperwork, documentation, or conduct limited business with the Mexican government.

These Mexican consulates serve as a connection to Mexico. Some of the services that Mexican citizens can obtain at these centers are passports and birth certificates for those born in Mexico. Non-Mexican citizens can apply for…
Continue Reading In Support of the Mexican Community: On Being a Consultant Attorney with the Mexican Consulate

Sept. 11, 2001, was a watershed moment for all, and certainly for me as a career federal prosecutor. From that day forward, the main focus of the U.S. Department of Justice was protecting the people of the United States from violent terrorism. With local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners, we worked to stop violence at home before it happened, and prosecuted those who committed violent acts and actively supported terrorist organizations. Beginning in March 2001, I also…
Continue Reading Micro-diplomacy and the Lawyer’s Role in Foreign Policy, National Security, and the Rule of Law

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The United States’ “swift” troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the U.S.’ longest war spanning four different U.S. presidential administrations, is a subject of fierce debate in many legal and non-legal circles.Although there appears to be no neutral position when discussing this issue, an approach based on a public international law principles provides an interesting dimension to the ongoing discussion.International Law on Ending a War Between StatesAny discussion on the law of troop withdrawal also necessitates a discussion on the…
Continue Reading What Public International Law Says about Troop Withdrawal at the End of a War

In March, I published an article with the International Trade Club of Chicago (ITCC) blog on President Biden’s 2021 Trade Agenda and 2020 Annual Report that was released by the USTR on March 1, 2021.

This article supplements that article, and focuses on the recently released 2021 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE) published by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on March 31, 2021.

The National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

The NTE…
Continue Reading ‘Tough on China’ Trade Policy Continues

Wisconsin is a good place for a foreign individual or entity to invest. While there are currently travel restrictions in and out of the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now is a good time for foreign investors to take advantage of cheaper prices, and start planning potential investments for when the borders open up.

Wisconsin has a low sales tax, and good corporate and property tax rates compared to other states. Wisconsin is most famous for its…
Continue Reading Foreign Investment in a Wisconsin Business: Special Considerations

Previously, I have published two articles in this International Law Blog that focus on the challenges of complying with the very complex U.S. export control and sanctions regulations.1

This article supplements these two articles, and focuses on the recently enacted Export Control Law of the People’s Republic of China that goes into effect Dec. 1, 2020. I also discuss why this regulation should matter to U.S. companies, large or small, with footprints in China.
Background
Since the beginning…
Continue Reading China’s New Export Control Law: Why US Businesses Should Pay Attention

Note: This article was originally posted on the Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren website.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has established a new mandatory internet-based electronic registration and lottery process for employers seeking to file H-1B petitions for beneficiaries that are required to be counted under the annual allocation of new H-1B slots.

Benjamin T. Kurten, U.W. 1997, is a shareholder at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C., Milwaukee, and is the chairperson of Reinhart’s immigration group.
Continue Reading New H-1B Cap Registration Process Starts March 1

The trade war between the U.S. and China has significantly disrupted the once predictable global trading system.
Trade disruptions, however, are not anomalies – as U.S. trade policy since its founding has oscillated through periods of protections. In fact, the earliest such trade disruption occurred after the war of 1812, when Thomas Jefferson imposed a trade embargo on Britain.
Because the current trade war is likely to persist for decades – one of the U.S.’s stated goals is to…
Continue Reading Save on Import Duties with the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill – Apply by Dec. 10

Most of us are familiar with programs for older Americans – from Social Security and Medicare, to anti-discrimination and accessibility laws. While these programs are set up to help protect America’s seniors, population aging around the world is a looming concern as global Baby Boomers become retirees, while the younger generations delay or decide against parenting.1
This trend is creating a gap between the number of retirees and the number of people in the workforce,2 including those…
Continue Reading An International Snapshot: Protecting Seniors as Workforces Shrink

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After 37+ years as a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice – the last eight as President Obama’s appointee as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin – in March 2017, I resigned my position and turned to the next chapter.
I believe in public service, and I believe in the rule of law, so I decided to commit time and effort to international pro bono projects that advance the rule of law, working with foreign judges,…
Continue Reading International Pro Bono Projects: Receiving More Than What You Give

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On Dec. 1, 2018, while transferring planes at Vancouver International Airport, Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wangzhou, was arrested by Canadian authorities at U.S. request pursuant to an extradition treaty between the U.S. and Canada.

The warrant was based on allegations of alleged Huawei’s conspiracy to defraud banks that had cleared money thought to be for Huawei, but was for Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech (an entity claimed to be controlled by Huawei) for the purpose of selling U.S. equipment…
Continue Reading How a Huawei CFO’s Criminal Prosecution Could Signal a New Approach to U.S. Sanctions Enforcement

With the longest government shutdown in U.S. history thankfully behind us in 2019, attention once again turns to the Trump Administration’s blitzkrieg on international trade.
For international trade law practitioners, 2018 was a banner year, and the year trade lawyers will remember as the year that the rest of the Bar (and the public) suddenly understood what they do for a living.
The year was punctuated by the Trump Administration’s resurrection of long dormant and unused statutes as a…
Continue Reading How a Forgotten Statute Came to Dominate U.S. International Trade Policy in 2018

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Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes famously wrote in The Path of the Law (1897):

for the rational study of the law, the black-letter man may be the man of the present, but the man of the future is the man of statistics and the master of economics.1

Although it has been over a century since those statements were first memorialized, it appears Judge Holmes’ prediction is now a reality, as statistical methods are increasingly used not only to explain…
Continue Reading Data Analysis Reveals Key Factors in US CPB’s Country-of-origin Determinations

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Every year, thousands gather in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for one of the largest gay pride parades in the world.

Yet the few days of celebration stand in stark contrast to the lived reality of many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens in Brazil.

Violent crime has been on the rise in Brazil,1 and those numbers have reached dramatic levels for people of minority sexual and gender orientations.2 Brazil’s trans citizens are murdered at a higher rate…
Continue Reading President Jair Bolsarano and LGBT Rights in Brazil

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After more than 13 months of negotiations, more than nine rounds of negotiations, 34 chapters, and 13 side letters, a political push is now underway to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which will supersede the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – if ratified and adopted by Congress.

com ngosongf addison-clifton Ngosong Fonkem, West Virginia University College of Law 2011 (JD, MBA) and Tulane Law School 2012 (LLM), is a senior advisor at Addison-Clifton LLC, Milwaukee, where…
Continue Reading From NAFTA to USMCA: The Next Step Moving Forward?