The Nelson Mullins International Practice Group is chaired by former U.S. Ambassador to Canada (2005-2009) David Wilkins in service of clients' legal needs in the United States and in countries around the world in a variety of ways, from commercial and trade matters to matters of a practice before courts, agencies, tribunals, and governments. The Firm has relationships with leading law firms in other countries and draws its in-house ability from a variety of practice areas that include attorneys specifically focused on international matters, former counsel for multinational enterprises, litigators, and business and commercial attorneys with in depth international practice experience spanning various industries and jurisdictions. Firm attorneys represent many multinational firms in world markets and focus on identifying and handling legal matters in support of those businesses.

Our Practice Group attorneys have engaged in various international matters arising in practice fields such as antitrust and competition law; banking and finance; business organization (limited liability companies, partnerships and trusts); commercial transactions; federal and defense procurement, export trade controls; intellectual property; international customs and trade; international mergers and acquisitions; real estate investments; securities; telecommunications,  sustainable energy and transportation. The International Group has been involved in more than 500 start-up operations in various manufacturing industries in the U.S. over many years and a significant number of start-up operations in foreign countries through assistance of local counsel.

The Firm's United States and foreign national attorneys are licensed in the United States and in other countries and work with an established network of lawyers in Asia and Europe to assist Asian and European companies establish operations in the United States and to assist U.S. companies in conducting business abroad. Nelson Mullins has substantial experience in representing international companies in the United States and representing U.S., Asian, South Asian, South American and European companies in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Sweden, Egypt, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand. The Firm has multilingual capabilities including French, Spanish, German, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Mandarin and Hindi.

Recent representative work includes: 

• Establishing and counseling subsidiaries for numerous Japanese, German, British, Canadian, Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Egyptian, Mexican, Swiss, South African, Australian, multinational corporate investors.
• Establishment of electric vehicle manufacturing plants and distributorship network in the U.S. for Korean vehicle manufacturer
• Performing as Merger & Acquisition counsel for foreign multinational companies purchasing U.S. companies.
• Structuring international ventures to address corporate, commercial, intellectual property, trade, taxation, immigration and securities issues in international business investments and financial transactions.
• Structuring and documenting international joint ventures, licenses, distributorships, sales agencies, trade agreements, and export agreements in various industries and countries in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.
• Advice and counsel on petitions and scope rulings in anti dumping and countervailing duty investigations in candles, crowbars, picture frames, steel wire and lumber before the International Trade Commission and the International Trade Administration.
• Resolution of state court claims of a US customs broker in a bankruptcy proceeding in France.
• Institution of federal proceedings in the U.S. to counter lawsuits filed in Italy against an international air carrier.
• Establishment of Export Control Programs for large communications equipment manufacturer and an R & D micro electronics research firm designing analog integrated circuit chips to comply with defense procurement regulations and statutes for exports of products to Europe, Asia, South West Asia and Africa to assure compliance with the Buy American Act, Export Administration Act, Arms Export Control Act, International Trafficking in Arms Act, Trading with the Enemy Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Patriot Act and regulations dealing with classified facilities and documentation.
• Mediation of international construction and environmental contamination dispute between two Japanese multinational corporations doing business in the U.S.
• Recapitalization, liquidation and disinvestment of an Italian owned plant located in South Carolina operated by a French manufacturer of steel wire used in the automotive industry.
• Negotiation and preparation of a bi-lingual International Joint Venture License and Research and Development Agreement for golf products for a Korean manufacturer.
• Negotiation and preparation of an International License and Distributorship for U.K. manufacturer of a patented bactericide/virucide and establishment of a subsidiary for the publicly listed U.K parent entity.
• Establishment of a Foreign Trade Sub Zone in South Carolina.
• Representation of foreign automotive OEMS and Tier 1 and 2 parts manufacturers in government affairs to secure favorable green legislation for electric vehicle, battery and component manufacture and vehicle operation in state and federal environments.