Sanctions Risk in Everyday Legal Practice: Know Your Client and Gatekeeper Responsibilities

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Erin Brown is a litigation and regulatory lawyer based in Ottawa with a focus on international trade, public procurement, and foreign investment/competition. Erin provides timely and practical advice to clients across a range of industries on complex international trade issues, including tariffs and surtaxes, remissions, trade remedies, economic sanctions, export controls, and customs issues, and frequently represents clients before the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT), and the Federal Court of Canada on issues relating to anti-dumping, customs classifications, duty relief, and the import/export of goods. She also advises both public and private sector organizations on public procurement mandates, including the applicability of trade agreement procurement provisions and buy Canadian policies, and represents government contractors in bid challenge disputes before the CITT and Federal Court. Erin has in-depth knowledge of competition and foreign investment issues. She regularly assists clients across a range of industries in obtaining Competition Bureau merger clearance for domestic and international mergers, including completing supplementary information requests, and advises and represents clients in navigating the Investment Canada Act clearance regime. She also provides strategic advice to clients on issues relating to deceptive marketing, bid-rigging, and competitor collaborations. Erin is actively involved in our Women in Norton Rose Fulbright Network (WiN) and in a ski-themed charity event that raises money for the Ronald McDonald House of Ottawa.

Managing Partner, Vancouver, Miller Thomson LLP | Associé Directeur, Vancouver, Miller Thomson

Andrei helps Canadian and international businesses navigate a broad range of international trade law issues. He advises clients on matters including Canadian customs laws, trade remedies (anti-dumping/countervailing duty investigations), investor-state dispute settlement, export controls and economic sanctions, anti-money laundering and anti-corruption laws and other legal issues affecting cross-border trade. Andrei represents clients in complex trade controversy matters, including trade compliance verifications, investigations, administrative reviews, seizures and detentions, voluntary disclosures and other enforcement matters involving the Canada Border Services Agency, Global Affairs Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other domestic and foreign regulatory and law enforcement agencies. As an advocate, Andrei has also appeared before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal in trade remedy proceedings and represents clients in trade remedy and customs appeal proceedings before the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal. In law school, Andrei received the Walker Law Award for his distinction in the Advanced Commercial Litigation Workshop. Andrei is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the American Bar Association's International Law Group. He is fluent in English and Romanian.

Clifford Sosnow is a Partner practising out of Fasken Martineau’s Ottawa office. Known for the advice he provides leading corporations, governments and industry associations on global trade and investment issues, Clifford regularly advises clients with opinion advice on compliance audits, in performing transactional due diligence and in litigation respecting free trade agreements, bilateral investment agreements, World Trade Organization (WTO) law, foreign corrupt practices, antidumping and countervailing duties, sanctions, export controls and procurement. He is recognized as a leading international trade practitioner in Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, The International Who's Who of Trade & Customs Lawyers, Legal 500 Canada, and Guide to the World's Leading International Trade Lawyers. Clifford has appeared before North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and WTO panels, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) and the Federal Court of Appeal. He has advocated and lobbied on behalf of clients in connection with cross-border environment, transportation, and various trade and investment issues regarding proposed and existing regulations and the negotiation of free trade and bilateral investment agreements. Clifford holds leadership and executive committee positions in many professional associations, writes extensively on matters involving international trade and investment, and is often invited to speak or act as moderator at conferences around the world. Clifford previously served as senior counsel with the trade law division of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He was also in-house counsel to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal and has represented Canada in several GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and WTO disputes.

A partner in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office, Wendy Wagner leads the firm's Privacy and Data Protection Group. Her practice focuses on international commercial law, as well as privacy, access to information and defamation. In her international trade law practice, Wendy advises the firm's clients on matters involving investment and trade agreements, export controls and sanctions/embargoes, as well as all matters relating to customs compliance (tariff classification, origin, valuation and monetary penalties under the Administrative Monetary Penalty System [AMPS]). As counsel, Wendy has appeared in trade cases before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal and the Federal Court of Canada. Her expertise in international trade is recognized by Chambers Global : The World's Leading Lawyers for Business (international trade/WTO), The Legal 500 (international trade), Lexpert (international trade regulation), The Legal Media Group's Experts Guides (international trade and transportation, and women in business law) and Best Lawyers (international trade and finance law). She has also been listed in the 2014 edition of the Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Corporate Lawyers in Canada (as a “Business Lawyer to Watch”) and is currently Chair of the International Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association. In her privacy practice, Wendy advises companies on privacy and data protection compliance issues, including compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), provincial private sector privacy laws and health information protection laws. She assists chief privacy officers in conducting privacy impact assessments and audits, and drafts privacy compliance programs and policies and contractual provisions for the protection of customer and employee data. Wendy also provides advice regarding cross-border data transfers and successor obligations, and assists companies in reporting and managing data breach incidents. She regularly provides compliance advice regarding Canada’s anti-spam legislation, and has created compliance policies and programs for life sciences and retail companies, as well as associations. Wendy has extensive knowledge of requests under Canada’s Access to Information Act and related provincial legislation, and assists clients in protecting third parties’ confidential business information under these laws. She represents clients in complaints to the Information Commissioner of Canada and appeals to provincial information and privacy offices. Wendy regularly appears before the federal and Ontario courts on judicial reviews and appeals. Her practice includes a range of administrative law challenges to federal and provincial statutes, regulations, orders and decisions. She has also acted as counsel in several Charter and federalism challenges, including cases before the Supreme Court of Canada. She is recognized by Best Lawyers (public and administrative law). In her media law and defamation practice, Wendy appears before the Ontario courts in defamation actions, advises media outlets in freedom of the press cases under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , and represents them in opposition to publication bans and other restrictions on publication. Her expertise in this area is recognized in the publications Lexpert (litigation – media law and defamation) and Best Lawyers (defamation and media law). Highlighting her leadership and expertise, the publication Lexpert included Wendy in its 2013 ranking of “Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40.” Prior to joining Gowling WLG, Wendy clerked for Justice Bastarache of the Supreme Court of Canada. Wendy is President of the Ottawa Branch of the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT), Chair of the International Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, and a member of the Board of Directors of Run Ottawa.