International Relations & Sovereign Government Advocacy

Our sovereign practice has successfully assisted clients with

• Congressional and Staff Delegations
• Free-Trade Negotiations
• Foreign Assistance including USAID funding, military aid, sector reform, etc. 
• Immigration Waivers
• Immunity
• International Warrant Evasion
• International Sanctions
• NGO Partnerships
• State Department annual reports (ex. Trafficking in Persons, Human Rights Report, International Narcotics Control Strategy, etc.)
• Territorial Disputes
• Trade and Investment Issues
• Trade Delegations
• Travel Bans

Our International Government Relations Team

Our team of attorneys and policy advisors has held positions as

• Ambassadors
• Capitol Hill staff
• International trade negotiators
• Members of Congress
• Presidential Cabinet officials
• Senior officials in Republican and Democratic administration

Clients we work with range from individuals to sovereign governments

We have served as trusted counsel and political advisors to clients on five continents

• Foreign Governments
• Heads of State
• Political Parties

Acting for our clients, we work on a spectrum of issues ranging from serving as advisors to successful presidential campaigns, securing increased bilateral aid and negotiating for trade preferences, identifying infrastructure and investment opportunities, and addressing country reviews in congressionally mandated annual reports from the U.S. Department of State.

Taking a personal approach to help address client challenges

The needs of sovereign governments are diverse and require personalization and flexibility as new challenges and opportunities arise. Nelson Mullins anticipates and understands the specific needs of clients, having served foreign actors from sovereign national governments, opposition candidates, and national interest groups. 

Our international government relations and sovereign government advocacy services have helped clients

• Advance economic development and foreign direct investment – advising foreign sovereigns how best to structure laws to attract FDI and identifying opportunities with our network of private businesses and major investment institutions like OPIC
• Anticipate and act proactively on emerging risk – through continual tracking and monitoring of judicial, legislative, and regulatory activities
• Craft and secure international agreements – including free-trade agreements and resolutions to territorial disputes by supporting political negotiations and identifying third party allies
• Defend against increasing litigation for foreign principles – through legal representation and political advocacy to create a strong defense or secure immunity
• Develop and nurture relationships with key NGO's and third parties – creating a narrative that strengthens the sovereign's reputation and positions on issues
• Evaluate legal, political, business, and regulatory factors – carefully considering the ramifications and solutions of policy developments and current events
• Form and implement effective media strategies – including targeted social media messaging in the U.S. and domestically, opinion pieces in major publications, and crisis management
• Identify champions on Capitol Hill – developing strategic relationships with decisions makers who can steer policy and public opinion
• Navigate appropriations processes – ensuring maximum benefits in the formation of legislation and proper implementation as funds move through bureaucracy 

Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

• The Firm represented a large Canadian oil and gas producer in securing regulatory approval for a key offshore oil drilling permit from the Department of Interior. The permit was one of the first permits issued after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and moratorium on Deepwater drilling.
• On behalf of a Canadian province, the Firm successfully lobbied the House of Representatives, Senate and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prevent the temporary closure of a U.S. border crossing at the Canadian border.
• Represented the victims and families of the 9-11 terrorist attack in lobbying Congress to pass the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) and successfully worked to override the President’s veto, the only veto override of President Obama. JASTA allows a lawsuit against any country by any U.S. citizen who claims the country financed or otherwise aided and abetted a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
• We obtained the release of a democratic political activist arbitrarily detained in West Africa and sentenced to six years in prison. After three years in prison, an international team representing the client asked us to take up the cause. We worked with the United Nations, Amnesty International, International Federation for Human Rights, and numerous other organizations to apply pressure to obtain his release as the conviction violated numerous international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. In the United States we launched a Capitol Hill advocacy and media campaign and worked directly with the U.S. State Department and members of Congress to press for release. Within six months of our representation we obtained our client’s release.
• Members of the Firm have held senior positions in winning presidential election campaigns for candidates on four continents.
• In 2014, we were retained by a foreign government to seek additional funds to combat the outbreak of Ebola in Africa. Working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the State Department we were able to increase annual U.S. appropriations to our client substantially, in fact to the highest aid levels in the past decade.