Senior WTO Official Alan Yanovich Joins Akin Gump’s International Trade Practice in Geneva

(Geneva and Washington, D.C.) – Akin Gump is pleased to announce that Alan Yanovich, who for the last 12 years has served at the World Trade Organization Appellate Body Secretariat, has joined Akin Gump and will be a senior counsel in the firm’s Geneva office.

Mr. Yanovich served as counselor at the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat since 2004. In this capacity, he served as the lead lawyer responsible for supervising all case management aspects of an appeal before the Appellate Body, the WTO’s highest tribunal. 

Among the work he performed was service as co-lead lawyer in the two largest and most complex appeals—Airbus and Boeing, in claims worth over $15 billion and $6 billion, respectively—before that body. Most recently, he was responsible for the appeal of the first dispute brought to the WTO involving government support policies in the renewable energy sector. His duties also included conducting specialized training activities on the WTO's rules and dispute settlement procedures for government officials around the globe.

Akin Gump international trade practice head Hal Shapiro said, “Our trade practice is as broad and deep as any in the business. Alan’s arrival strengthens it by bringing extraordinary experience inside the WTO and a presence in Geneva that will be of direct and immediate benefit for our clients.”

Mr. Yanovich added, “I’m excited to have joined Akin Gump and look forward to using my skills and experience to support the firm's global clients as they seek to navigate—and, if possible, shape—the increasingly complex landscape of international regulation.  The firm’s strategic position in Geneva, the center of efforts to promote multilateral cooperation and develop international regulation beyond the scope of traditional trade instruments, is an invaluable asset to Akin Gump’s sophisticated global client base.”

About Alan Yanovich

Alan Yanovich has extensive experience on international trade matters at the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels. Prior to his work with the World Trade Organization, he served as legal advisor at the General Secretariat of the Andean Community in Lima, Peru.  In this capacity, he drafted Andean Community legislation and regulations, wrote briefs and participated in litigation before the Andean Court of Justice, and provided advice to member countries and Secretariat staff in the context of bilateral and regional negotiations with third countries and other regional blocs.

While at the WTO, Mr. Yanovich also engaged in numerous research activities. 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), Mr. Yanovich also 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 and of several articles on WTO dispute settlement.

Mr. Yanovich received his B.A. in history and government from Georgetown University in 1993.  He received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1996.

About Akin Gump in Geneva

Akin Gump‘s Geneva office serves as a platform for the firm’s international trade practice in relation to the World Trade Organization and other Geneva-based international organizations. It is also the headquarters of Akin Gump’s global international arbitration practice and anchors the firm's international tax planning and restructuring practice on the European continent.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 850 attorneys in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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