Europe - Switzerland

2

WTO

Baker McKenzie

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Baker McKenzie’s team advises both domestic and international clients on regulatory and trade compliance matters in the fields of customs law, sanctions, export restrictions, and trade remedies. Pablo Bentes, who heads the team, specialises in representing sovereign clients before the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. Serge Pannatier regularly advises clients on a wide range of trade-related matters including trade remedies and customs matters. Claude Chase and Hayley Ryerson handle the full spectrum of matters regulated under WTO treaties.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Very personalized service.'
  • 'The Baker McKenzie firm stands out for its global presence with offices around the world, as well as the diversity of its team, which facilitates communication and representation of its clients. In addition to providing advice in various areas, we chose the Baker McKenzie firm for its extensive experience in the field of dispute resolution.'
  • 'The Baker McKenzie team has been very cooperative, enthusiastic, organized, and proactive. Pablo Bentes is very attentive to our case and its details. He provides us with accurate legal advice, follows up diligently, and offers the necessary recommendations for potential scenarios that may arise during hearings. All of the above gives us confidence and assurance as clients.'
  • 'Baker McKenzie has an excellent network of experienced partners, a first-rate international trade compliance webinar and blog series, and good knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry.'
  • 'The team attaches the great importance on the communication with clients and works together to produce outcomes. Therefore, we have never received unintended outcomes from the team. The quality of the service is high.'

Key clients

  • Barry Callebaut
  • Bobst
  • Bruker BioSpin
  • dorma kaba
  • GARMCO
  • Government for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning
  • Hilti
  • Kingdom of Bahrain
  • Novartis
  • Ruag
  • Schindler
  • Vitol

Work highlights

  • Assisting both the Kingdom of Bahrain and a Bahraini aluminium exporter in parallel antidumping/countervailing duties investigations in the United States on imports of aluminium sheet.
  • Advising in relation to two communications that a Middle East government received from the WTO, providing the client with a written assessment of the recent communications made by the United States and by China, India, South Africa and Venezuela regarding the relevance of the self-declared development status in the WTO.

Lawyers

Rising stars

Claude Chase

Claude Chase

Baker McKenzie LLP

An Associate in Baker McKenzie's Geneva office, Claude Chase is an international trade lawyer with over a decade of experience in WTO law and dispute settlement. Claude has extensive experience advising sovereign and private sector clients on how to leverage WTO rules and dispute settlement procedures to achieve their international trade objectives. Claude previously served as a Dispute Settlement Lawyer at the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat, where he provided legal advice and assistance to adjudicators of the Appellate Body in the context of appeals before the WTO dispute settlement system. Claude's practice focuses on WTO law and litigation. He advises clients on the full spectrum of matters regulated under WTO treaties, and appears before WTO adjudicators in disputes between WTO member States.

Next Generation Partners

Pablo Bentes

Pablo Bentes

Baker McKenzie LLP

Pablo M. Bentes is a partner in Baker McKenzie Geneva, where he heads the global WTO disputes practice of the Firm. Pablo focuses on representing WTO Members before the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and assists private clients and trade associations on how to leverage WTO disciplines to resolve trade disputes. Pablo is one of very few practitioners in the world to have successfully represented WTO Members in all stages in WTO dispute settlement proceedings, serving as lead counsel in oral pleadings before WTO panels and the Appellate Body. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Pablo was managing director at a leading law firm in Washington DC and a Legal Officer in the Appellate Body Secretariat of the WTO. While working at the Appellate Body Secretariat, Pablo advised on some of the largest and most complex appeals giving rise to the leading case law in areas such as import restrictions, subsidies, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, among others. Pablo was featured as "Next Generation Lawyer – Dispute Resolution: International Trade" in Legal 500 US for three years in a row. Law360 has repeatedly named him a "Rising Star." He is a welcomed speaker at international podiums and publishes regularly in professional journals and international media. Pablo advises sovereign states and private clients in every stage of complex WTO disputes dealing with the inter-section between economic and non-economic objectives. He frequently appears on behalf of WTO members in oral pleadings before WTO panels and the Appellate Body.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Pablo Bentes

Other key lawyers

Serge Pannatier, Claude Chase, Hayley Ryerson

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