Brooks E. Allen

Mr. Allen draws on experience in both private practice and government, having most recently served as assistant general counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Within CFIUS, Mr. Allen served as lead counsel for USTR and participated in deliberations and decision-making in hundreds of cases. He also represented USTR in drafting regulations implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA) legislation, which transformed CFIUS’s procedures and mandate. Mr. Allen has been recognized by The Legal 500 as a key lawyer focusing on CFIUS and international trade issues.

Mr. Allen helps clients navigate supply chain challenges, counseling clients on the potential impact of measures such as tariffs, export controls, customs requirements and rules aimed at eradicating forced labor in supply chains. He also advises clients on the impact of these measures on corporate strategy, as well as specific transactions. Additionally, he helps clients assess and develop compliance policies and infrastructure, as well as mitigate supply chain risks.

With respect to export controls, Mr. Allen regularly advises on the interpretation and application of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). He counsels clients on a broad range of export control issues, including licensing, voluntary disclosure and enforcement. In addition, Mr. Allen advises on the application of various “Buy American” domestic content requirements and related government contracts issues.

Mr. Allen frequently advises companies on how international trade and investment agreements impact their businesses, and helps them to leverage opportunities presented by these agreements. He also helps companies identify market access barriers — including tariff and nontariff barriers — and develops strategies to overcome them.

In addition, Mr. Allen has extensive experience in international dispute resolution. He has represented governments and stakeholders in disputes before the World Trade Organization, and acted as counsel for clients in complex, high-stakes international arbitration matters. While at USTR, he helped develop written submissions on behalf of the U.S. government in investment treaty disputes, and is one of the few practitioners to have experience in both negotiating investment treaty provisions and acting as counsel in disputes arising under such treaties.

Prior to joining USTR, Mr. Allen practiced with other prominent law firms, including for seven years at a firm in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr. Allen’s dispute settlement experience prior to joining Skadden includes:

• representing Airbus in one of the largest WTO disputes in history, involving alleged subsidies for the development of large civil aircraft;
• representing the U.S. in WTO disputes concerning determinations of the U.S. Department of Commerce in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations;
• successfully defending a major U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturer against a $110 million claim in ICC arbitration (Zürich);
• obtaining a damages award for affiliates of a Russian company in an arbitration under the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration, with a combined amount in controversy of more than $800 million;
• obtaining a damages award for an affiliate of a Russian company in arbitrations before the SCC (Stockholm) and ICC (Zürich), with combined amounts in controversy of approximately $200 million;
• obtaining a favorable settlement for a Middle Eastern distributor in an ICC arbitration, with an amount in controversy of approximately $40 million;
• obtaining a damages award for an African minerals company in an ICC arbitration (Geneva) against a multinational minerals company, with an amount in controversy of approximately $22 million; and
• obtaining dismissal of a $7 million claim asserted by a Norwegian firm against a U.S. health care company in an ICC arbitration (London).

Mr. Allen has experience acting as counsel in arbitrations subject to the domestic law of numerous jurisdictions, including both common law and civil law regimes, and under all major international arbitration rules.

With respect to domestic court proceedings, Mr. Allen has represented clients in the enforcement of arbitral awards, as well as with respect to execution and attachments proceedings in Swiss and U.S. courts. He has litigated disputes in U.S. courts arising out of the Alien Tort Claims Act, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and the Federal Arbitration Act, and in complex, multijurisdictional litigation matters. Additionally, while at USTR, Mr. Allen helped advise and prepare amicus curiae briefs on behalf of the U.S. in cases arising out of these statutes, and counseled on cases involving the interpretation of U.S. treaties and international law before the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. courts of appeals.