Two former senior advisers from the Commerce Department, Sahar Hafeez and Julian Beach, have joined Pillsbury Winthrop in the regulatory business unit and international trade practice, the firm announced. Hafeez rejoins the firm as senior counsel after serving in various roles at Commerce and the White House, most recently as senior adviser to the assistant secretary for industry and analysis at Commerce. Beach joins the firm as special counsel, most recently working as senior adviser and chief-of-staff for enforcement and compliance at Commerce.
Nicholas Czajkowski, a former trade analyst for the Commerce Department, has joined Schagrin Associates, the firm announced. Czajkowski worked at Commerce for over 20 years, conducting various trade remedy investigations, administrative reviews and new shipper reviews.
Dan Stirk, former chief counsel for litigation in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has joined Picard Kentz as counsel in the international trade practice, the firm announced. Stirk served as an attorney-adviser at USTR for nearly 18 years, covering World Trade Organization and free trade agreement dispute settlement proceedings, compliance proceedings and arbitration, the firm said.
Former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has joined the Council on Foreign Relations as a distinguished fellow, the think tank announced this week. Raimondo will co-chair a new CFR task force on economic security and will also work on issues related to economic policy, U.S. competitiveness and artificial intelligence.
Kathryn Herrity, a former CBP auditor, has joined customs compliance firm Deleon Trade as a senior trade auditor, the firm announced. Herrity served as a senior auditor and field quality auditor of CBP's Trade Regulatory Audit in Chicago for the past 14 years.
Three international trade attorneys, Sarah Sprinkle, Jared Cynamon and Marisa Littlefield, joined Sandler Travis, the firm announced. Sprinkle joins the firm as a member and co-lead of the trade remedies practice after most recently working as senior counsel at Akin Gump. Cynamon joins as an associate after conducting trade remedies work at the Commerce Department. Littlefield joins as a customs attorney associate after graduating from the American University Washington College of Law.
Tom Gould is joining Gaia Dynamics as chief strategy and compliance officer, he said on LinkedIn. The start-up advertises “AI-driven tools for precise classification and real-time tariff calculations.” Gould said he will continue his independent trade compliance consulting work.
BigBear.ai announced last week that former CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan is its new CEO. McAleenan previously was president of the company, which provides artificial intelligence-powered decision offerings.
Former International Trade Commissioner chair and current commissioner Rhonda Schmidtlein will join WilmerHale as a partner in the international trade, investment and market access practice group, the firm announced. The ITC, in a concurrent press release, said the commissioner will step down Feb. 1. Schmidtlein was confirmed to the ITC in 2014, previously serving as chair for 17 months in 2017-18.
John Goodrich, founder of trade compliance consultancy J.D. Goodrich and Associates, retired as of Jan. 1, according to his LinkedIn profile. The company’s website says that it’s no longer taking new clients.