Duane W. Layton

Duane Layton is a member of the International Trade practice. His practice concentrates on international dispute settlement, including World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes, international trade and investment law, and international trade negotiations and policy. Duane has extensive experience representing governments and industries in import relief proceedings (i.e., anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard), both in the United States and abroad (e.g. Argentina, Brazil, China, the European Union, Guatemala, India, Mexico, and the Philippines).

Prior to joining Mayer Brown in 2006, Duane headed the International Trade Litigation Group at another prominent law firm in Washington, DC. From 1994 to 1999, he was Senior Counsel at the US Department of Commerce, where he received numerous honors and awards, including "Attorney of the Year" in 1998, and similar awards in the Office of the Chief Counsel for Import Administration in 1996. In 1987, Duane received a Silver Medal from the US Secretary of Commerce for his work on the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement. Earlier (1985-1986), Duane served as legislative counsel to US Congressman Rod Chandler.

Duane has litigated numerous disputes before the WTO in Geneva, including the first two antidumping cases to come before the WTO. In both cases, he won important victories for the United States on a variety of significant issues, such as the proper jurisdiction of WTO panels, the duration of anti-dumping duties and the assessment of duties at de minimis levels. Duane represented the Government of Indonesia before the WTO in a successful challenge of U.S. restrictions on clove cigarettes pursuant to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. This case was selected as the "Global Dispute of the Year: International Litigation" in the inaugural American Lawyer 2013 Global Legal Awards. In 2002, the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body named Duane to a select list of non-governmental experts qualified to serve on dispute settlement panels maintained by the WTO's Secretariat. Duane has also litigated numerous international trade disputes before the US Court of International Trade, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and binational panels convened under Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Duane is listed as a recommended lawyer in Legal 500 US 2021 and ranked as one of the Top 30 International Trade Practitioners in the US by Best of the Best USA 2020. He is also recognized in The International Who's Who of Trade & Customs Lawyers (2008 - 2019), and Super Lawyers (2014-2020). His published works on international trade law and international dispute settlement appear in numerous books and journals, including the Stanford Journal of International Law, the Journal of World Trade, and Business Law International, published by the International Bar Association in London. He has also taught classes and spoken at conferences on international trade law and dispute settlement sponsored by, inter alia, British Institute of International & Comparative Law, the World Bank, Georgetown University Law Center (including the WTO Academy organized by Prof. John Jackson), Catholic University School of Law, George Mason University, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, the US Court of International Trade, the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association. Duane was recently appointed to the International Trade Update Advisory Board of the Georgetown University Law Center and the Board of Trustees of California Western School of Law.