Akin's Devin Sikes was appointed to the Court of International Trade's Rules Advisory Committee. The commiAn international trade counsel at Akin, Sikes adjudicates trade remedies and customs matters.

Over 99% of the partners at Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling voted for the two global firms to combine, with both parties beginning "active integration planning," aiming to complete the transaction by May, the Oct. 13 announcement said. Both have international trade and financial sanctions practices. The new firm, A&O Shearman, will have around 3,950 lawyers and 800 partners worldwide, the announcement said.

Russell Semmel, former international trade attorney at Bryan Cave, has joined Sandler Travis as of counsel in the Miami office, the firm announced in an email. His practice will center on international trade law, regulation and policy matters, including tariff classification, economic sanctions and free trade agreements, among other things. Semmel worked at Bryan Cave for the past two years as counsel, and before that at ArentFox as a trade attorney.

Joshua Drew, former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, has joined Miller & Chevalier as a member. Drew's practice will center on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act proceedings, corporate compliance and internal and external investigations, the firm said. He served as assistant U.S. attorney 2003-2009, and before that as a DOJ trial attorney in the agency's fraud section. More recently, Drew helped lead international communications company Veon through an FCPA monitorship.

Lydia Childre, former international trade and logistics senior associate at Venable, has joined boutique trade law firm Lighthill, the firm announced on LinkedIn. Childre worked at Venable for nearly two years after serving as a senior project adviser on Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs at the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration. Her practice at Lighthill will center on "national security and trade policy," the firm said. Lighthill was founded earlier this year by former Crowell & Moring attorney John Anwesen (see 2307050026).

International trade law firm Cassidy Levy hired Amy DeArmond, former director of government affairs at Leggett & Platt, to serve as the director of government affairs at the firm, Cassidy Levy announced in an email. DeArmond's experience centers on proceedings in front of the Commerce Department, the International Trade Commission, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, CBP and DHS. The firm said she helped put together a coalition strategy to "secure passage of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015."

Trade attorney Julia Kuelzow has moved from Kelley Drye, where she worked as an associate, to Fenwick & West, where she now works as a trade and national security associate, per a notice at the Court of International Trade. At Fenwick, Kuelzow's practice centers on export controls and sanctions, shifting from her trade remedies work at Kelley Drye. Prior to working at Kelley Drye, Kuelzow served as a law clerk at CIT and as a junior dispute settlement lawyer at the World Trade Organization, according to her LinkedIn page.

Elisa Solomon, trial attorney at DOJ's International Trade Field Office, will transfer to become a trial attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission effective Sept. 25, according to a U.S. notice at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Her last day at DOJ was Sept. 23. Solomon began working at DOJ in 2022 as a trial attorney, coming to the agency from Covington & Burling, where she was an associate in the white collar investigations and commercial litigation practices. She also served as a law clerk with Court of International Trade Judge Timothy Stanceu.

Christopher Stagg, a former export control official with the State Department, announced this week he has left Miller & Chevalier to launch Stagg PLLC, his own export control practice. His firm will provide a “first-of-its-kind dedicated issues and appeals practice for high-stakes export control situations, such as appeals and other disputes with the export control agencies, regulatory interpretations, delisting petitions, and rulemaking changes,” Stagg said on LinkedIn.

DOJ’s National Security Division this week announced the appointment of Ian Richardson as the agency’s first chief counsel for corporate enforcement and Christian Nauvel as the new deputy chief counsel for corporate enforcement. They will oversee the division’s investigation and prosecution of national security-related corporate crime, DOJ said, and are a part of the agency’s efforts to add more than 25 new prosecutors to investigate and prosecute sanctions and export control violations (see 2303070023).