Presentations

Mr. Mafla joined Brigard Urrutia in 2006 and is Partner of the firm since 2015, focusing on the Corporate/M&A, and Customs and International Trade practices. Mr. Mafla is admitted to practice law in Colombia (2001), in the state of New York (2006) and in the United States Court of International Trade (2015). He worked as foreign attorney in Harkins Cunningham LLP in New York, and in Uría Menéndez in Madrid, Spain.

He has broad expertise in commercial law, international business law, mergers and acquisitions, and customs and international trade. Mr. Mafla is also an arbitrator at the Center for Conciliation and Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, and was the Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM Colombia). He is also a member of the Board of Directors and of the Academic Committee of Customs and Foreign Trade of the Colombian Institute of Tax Law.

Mr. Mafla is an attorney from the School of Law of Universidad de los Andes, and obtained a postgraduate degree in Business Law from Universidad Externado in Colombia. He also holds an LL.M from New York University School of Law. Aside from his legal practice, He is professor (undergraduate and postgraduate studies) of Commercial Law and International Economic and International Trade Law at Universidad Externado, Universidad de los Andes, ICESI and EAFIT in Colombia.

He is recognized as a band 2 lawyer by Chambers and Partners Latin America in International Trade / WTO and has been ranked for 13 years. He is also recognized by Legal 500 as a Leading Individual and by Who’s Who Legal as Global Elite Thought Leader in the practice area of customs and international trade. He was recognized by Legal 500 as 2025 International Trade Lawyer of the Year. For Corporate practice area, is recognized by LACCA as top private practitioner.

Anandarajah heads the Competition & Antitrust and Trade Practice. A clear forerunner in niche areas of the law, her key practice areas are Competition (merger control, cartels, investigations, etc), Trade (export controls, FTAs, sanctions etc), and Consumer Protection. She has strong secondary practices in Employment, Environmental (EHS) & Sustainability (ESG), Corporate Governance and Telco/Media Laws just because of her long career in the law, where she has formidable accolades. Anandarajah is recognized in Chambers Global for Trade, which notes that she is a “business-focused and client-oriented attorney who balances her expertise with practical experience”.

On export control, dual use goods and strategic goods, which is a key area of the Practice, Anandarajah’s work includes advisory, structuring, export and import permit applications and clearances, licence applications, and defense work where there are breaches with licensing requirements, EUSes, classification issues and more. Breaches in relation to classification and hence ROO/COO violations have grown.  The export control work goes beyond dual use and military goods, and cuts across all controlled goods, including health and medical products, cosmetics, food and beverages, electronic products and more. On sanctions, Anandarajah has had to advise on complex transactions, reviewing not just UNSC based transactions, whether on countries, entities or individuals, but also deal with secondary sanctions and blocking statues. Dealing with secondary sanctions is a ley area.

On trade agreements, she has advised extensive on FTAs (including advising on the TPP, AEC and other trade treaties). Her work has spanned providing feedback on FTAs being negotiated, setting up business and structuring logistics flows to benefit from RTAs and FTAs.  This extends to advising extensively on ROOs and COOs, whilst meandering the different ROO under different FTAs, and advising on how best to benefit from preferential treatment and supply chain management. On trade investigations and other trade non-compliance, Anandarajah has also been involved in matters relating to non-compliance with FTAs, managing issues for clients, and dealing with customs authorities, working voluntary disclosure programmes or other defences and has had many successful wins. She also advises regularly on anti-dumping and safe-guard matters. Her work also involves dealing with product liability and recall issues amongst others.  Additionally, Anandarajah has also conducted extensive training on competition policy, WTO and FTA and other trade related issues across ASEAN countries for regulators to enhance trade understanding, including in relation to working with ITIS and others in Lao, Cambodia and Vietnam, amongst other countries, as they looked to achieve LDC and WTO status 20 years ago.

Sean Stephenson is a partner in the Regulatory group of Dentons’ Toronto office. Sean focuses his practice on international trade and sanctions, government contracts, investment arbitration, and public international law. He is a frequent advisor to C-suites, boards, private parties and governments.

In global trade matters, Sean is engaged and has led some of the most complex and “once in a generation” matters. His practice includes WTO law, free trade agreements, antidumping and countervailing duties, tariffs, import and export controls, sanctions, and customs. He regularly advises and acts for private parties and governments on the full panoply of international and domestic trade law and policy. He has served as counsel in trade, sanctions and investment matters before arbitral tribunals, federal boards, departments, ministries, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, the Federal Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal. In all matters, he is known to use the full range of legal tools to create leverage for clients in discussions with regulators, as well as in disputes, investigations, and in enforcement proceedings.

Sean’s track record of success includes extensive experience in investment treaty arbitration, including acting in multiple cases under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules with respect to all phases of proceedings in complex disputes throughout the Americas and Europe. He has acted in and advised on cases under the NAFTA, USMCA, CAFTA-DR, CPTPP and bilateral investment treaties in a large number of sectors. He is the co-editor of globally leading Research Handbook on Investment Law and Sustainable Development published by Edward Elgar.

Beyond trade and investment, Sean frequently advises on government contracting law. This includes advising on the process and substance of government contracting in Canada as well as procurement challenges under Canada’s free trade agreements. He has acted for both complainants and interveners in bid challenges in various arbitration and tribunal proceedings and has an exceptional track record in this area.

Sean is also often sought after for advice relating to ESG and business and human rights issues. This includes matters relating to export controls, trade prohibitions on forced/ child labour, compliance with reporting and due diligence legislation, and complaints to Canada’s ombudsman for responsible enterprise. He is appointed to Public Safety Canada’s Legal Advisory Panel on modern slavery reporting under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act.

Sean is the current Past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Section of International Law. During his tenure as an executive in Section of International  Law he has led working groups on sanctions and forced labour and the bar’s engagement with Global Affairs Canada and Public Safety Canada. For over a decade he has held a fellowship with an international organization focusing on economic law and sustainable development. He frequently speaks and publishes articles on a range of international and domestic law topics and has been featured or quoted in various international and national news outlets. He is recognized as an expert and a rising start in international trade, investment and procurement by Chambers, Legal500, Best Lawyers, among other rankings.

Sean’s experience builds on his training in common law, civil law, and international law. He holds an LLM from University College London and holds common law and civil law degrees from the University of Ottawa. Prior to joining Dentons, Sean’s practice focused on international arbitration and litigation of trade and investment disputes.

Reena is a Senior Partner and heads the International Trade & Indirect Taxation Practice at the Firm.
She is a lawyer of eminence with more than 25 years of work experience and specialisation in the areas of international tradeand indirect taxation. She represents clients regularly before the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, as wellas before various High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. She has extensive court room experience with more than 300reported cases argued by her.
In the domain of international trade, Reena has represented clients comprising domestic and foreign industries, as well as userindustries in India before the Designated Authority, Directorate General of Trade Remedies, and higher forums. She has alsosuccessfully argued the highest number of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases before the Tribunal. She has also assistedclients in trade remedial investigations in foreign jurisdictions.
She has been regularly providing advisory services and has been involved in dispute resolution for high-profile matters relatingto customs, excise, service tax, FEMA, and GST. Critical issues handled by her include classification under the HarmonizedSystem Nomenclature, valuation, export promotion schemes, drawback, EOUs, SEZs, inverted duty structure, admissibility ofcredits, transitional issues in GST, export refunds. She regularly assists clients in the transition to the GST regime.
She has also conducted Internal Management audits for optimization of tax liability, identifying issues/risks for potentialdisputes with departmental authorities and restructuring of transactions undertaken for various clients including some ofIndia’s major conglomerates and multinational corporations in the oil & gas, specialty materials and chemicals, steel andmanufacturing sector.

Helps client navigate U.S.-China regulatory conflicts. Strategic advisor on risk mitigation and supply chain restructuring. Deep industry and legal experience across borders.
Multinational companies with global supply chains and data-intensive businesses face an increasingly complex regulatory landscape worldwide, particularly in Asia. Evan Chuck advises corporate leaders and boards as they make strategic decisions, particularly in the context of dueling U.S. and China laws and regulations resulting from geopolitical competition. Evan advises Fortune 50 companies on matters involving China’s Antiforeign Sanctions Law, PRC Export Control Law, Unreliable Entity List and the PRC Cybersecurity Law. He also advises on the impact of such laws on supply chains involving Chinese manufacturing or sourcing, which could conflict with laws like the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and ESG-related corporate policies.
Evan has 30 years of experience in corporate and international trade, representing companies and private equity firms in cross-border investments across key industries, including aerospace, semiconductors, electric vehicles (EVs), automotive, IoT, medical devices, home improvement products (particularly wood and flooring), and electric power generation. As a strategic advisor, he helps executives create risk mitigation strategies, particularly those involving “de-risking” China exposure. He also assists companies in establishing “re-shoring” operations to the U.S. or countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, India, Japan, Korea and Mexico.
Evan represents IT hardware and app development companies that rely on cloud computing and cross-border data transmission, particularly between the U.S. and China. He has a deep understanding of emerging laws and practices in China that impact investments across the Asia-Pacific. He also advises on U.S. laws like the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which ties federal support to limits on China-based operations.
Evan began his career as an international trade lawyer in Washington, D.C., representing U.S. companies in major unfair trade disputes. He continues to advise on complex supply chains in the ongoing Section 301 U.S.-China trade dispute.