Alan Yanovich is a member of the international trade practice.

Practice and Background

Mr. Yanovich advises foreign governments and multinational corporations on litigation of disputes before the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international dispute-resolution bodies; on international business and policy issues; and on legislation, regulation and interagency policy formation.

Mr. Yanovich has extensive experience on international trade and investment matters at the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels. He spent 12 years at the WTO Appellate Body, the WTO’s highest tribunal. As a counselor at the Appellate Body Secretariat, he provided advice on procedural and substantive issues to the members of the Appellate Body and was responsible for supervising all case management aspects of an appeal. He was co-lead lawyer in the two largest and most complex appeals—Airbus and Boeing—and in the appeal of the first dispute brought to the WTO involving government support policies in the renewable energy sector. In addition, he worked on more than a dozen other appeals covering trade remedies, state-trading enterprises, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical regulations and international standards, agricultural subsidies, internal taxes and intellectual property issues. Mr. Yanovich’s duties at the WTO also included conducting specialized training activities on the WTO’s rules and dispute settlement procedures for government officials around the globe.

Between 1997 and 2001, Mr. Yanovich was a legal advisor at the General Secretariat of the Andean Community, and, prior to that, he served as a commercial secretary at the Colombian Government Trade Bureau.

Mr. Yanovich has engaged in numerous research activities relating to both the multilateral trading system and regional trade agreements. He worked closely with the WTO’s Economic Research Division in the drafting of the WTO’s premier publication, the World Trade Report, in 2010 (“Trade in Natural Resources”), 2011 (“Regionalism”), 2012 (“Non-Tariff Barriers”) and 2013 (“Factors Shaping the Future of Trade”). He is the co-author of the most comprehensive study of dispute settlement mechanisms in regional trade agreements, classifying and analyzing the dispute settlement mechanisms of the 226 regional trade agreements notified to the WTO as of the end of 2012, as well as the author of an article on the WTO’s rules relating to the energy sector. Mr. Yanovich is also the author of several articles on WTO dispute settlement, including “Procedural and Evidentiary Issues” with W. Zdouc in The Oxford Handbook of International Trade Law (2009) and “The Evolving WTO Dispute Settlement System” in The WTO in the Twenty-First Century: Dispute Settlement, Negotiations, and Regionalism in Asia (2007). He has additionally co-edited a number of books on the WTO, such as The WTO at Ten: The Contribution of the Dispute Settlement System (2006) with Giorgio Sacerdoti and Jan Bohanes; 10 Anos de OMC: Uma análise do Sistema de Solução de Controvérsias e Perspectivas (2007) with L.O. Baptista and U. Celli Jr.; The WTO in the Twenty-first Century: Dispute Settlement, Negotiations, and Regionalism in Asia (2007) with Yasuhei Taniguchi and Jan Bohanes; and The WTO: Governance, Dispute Settlement, and Developing Countries (2008) with Merit E. Janow and Victoria Donaldson.

Mr Yanovich is originally from Colombia.

Mr. Yanovich has been recognized by leading publications including, Who’s Who Legal who notes that, “clients appreciate his ‘responsiveness’ and ‘excellent understanding of the priorities and practical concerns of governments and private entities confronted with a WTO problem’”.

Awards & Accolades

• Euromoney Expert Guide: ‘Rising Stars 2017’ listed as a Rising Star for International Trade
• Ranked in Chambers Europe and Chambers Global for International Trade/WTO for Switzerland (2016-2017)
• Ranked as a Most Highly Regarded Individual in the 2016 edition of Who’s Who Legal for Trade & Customs
• Listed in the 2015 edition of Who’s Who Legal for Trade & Customs
• Listed in the 2014 edition of Best Lawyers in Switzerland for Trade Law