Amy Porges

Amy Porges

I've been operating my own practice since 2009. Before then, I was at the international law firms Sidley Austin (2002-2009) and Powell Goldstein Frazer & Murphy (2000-2002). Before 2000, I was the Senior Counsel for Dispute Settlement and head of enforcement at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in Washington, DC. In that job, I managed USTR's WTO and NAFTA litigation docket, and strategy and procedural issues in WTO and NAFTA disputes — participating in over 100 cases during the WTO's first five years. I led the US interagency policymaking body on dispute settlement and represented the US government in negotiations. I argued cases to WTO panels and the WTO Appellate Body. I litigated dispute settlement cases in NAFTA. I also designed the US-proposed legal architecture for the trillion-dollar Information Technology Agreement, and advised on trade and tariff negotiations with the European Communities.  

From 1990-94, I was a Senior Legal Officer and Counsellor in the Secretariat of the GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), in Geneva, Switzerland, during the Uruguay Round negotiations that led to the WTO Agreement. I helped delegations and Secretariat officials draft the agreements in the WTO package, including the General Agreement on Trade in Services and a number of the WTO agreements on trade in goods. I assisted GATT dispute settlement panels, and was principal author of the Secretariat's official compendium of GATT law, the Analytical Index of the GATT. 

In 1980-90, as a USTR lawyer (and eventually Associate General Counsel), I advised on trade negotiations with Japan and other countries. I litigated six GATT disputes for the United States. I was USTR's Director for Subsidies and Antidumping Policy in 1981-85. I advised on government procurement trade and standards trade issues. I also spent much time on trade legislation, including the 1988 Omnibus Trade Act, and legislative drafting.

Education:  Harvard Law School (JD cum laude), Kennedy School of Government (MPP), Cornell University (BA), Kyoto University (non-degree student, Japanese politics/industrial policy).  

Languages:  native speaker of English, fluent in French, reading fluency in Japanese and Spanish. 

Bar admissions: District of Columbia, U.S. Court of International Trade, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Honors, recognition and awards:

  • Recognized as a Thought Leader in Trade and Customs by the Lexology Index, 2025

  • Recognized by Who’s Who Legal - Trade and Customs for 2023, and every year since 2009, as one of the "most highly regarded individuals" in trade and customs law worldwide. Who’s Who recognized me as “extremely well known” for my “world-class” WTO practice and “marvellous awareness” of issues relating to free trade agreements and market access; also as "a top lawyer" who "always knows the answer" and gains recognition for a "stupendous knowledge of the law".

  • Selected as member, Roster of External Counsel for the Advisory Centre on WTO Law in Geneva - the ACWL provides legal assistance to developing countries in WTO disputes.

  • Recognized, The Best Lawyers in America and Best Law Firms 2024 and all years since 2008

  • Recognized by Euromoney Legal Media Group Expert Guides: World's Leading International Trade Lawyers; Women in Business Law

Public service/professional activities:

  • Co-Chair, International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in International Law, 2022-present; Member, ILA Committee on Sustainable Development and the Green Economy in International Trade Law, 2015-2022; ILA Study Group on Preferential Trade Agreements, 2013-15. Chair, International Trade Committee, ILA American Branch, 2014-15.

  • Member and mentor, Trade Experettes, 2022-present.

  • Society for International Economic Law: Founding Committee; pro bono counsel, 2007-2010; corporate secretary, 2010-2016, 2018-2021; member, Executive Council, 2010-2021; member, biennial conference committees.

  • International Trade Update, Georgetown University Law Center: Program co-chair of principal US continuing legal education program in trade and customs law, 2001-2016; co-chair emeritus and special advisor to the Planning Committee, 2016-present.

  • Expert, The E15 Initiative: Strengthening the Global Trade System, 2013-2019: member of experts groups on clean energy technologies, climate change and trade, and the digital economy.

  • American Society for International Law Executive Council 1990-95; co-chaired the International Economic Law Interest Group 2007-09; co-chair, International Law and Technology Interest Group, 2017-18 and vice chair, 2016-17; ASIL Insights editor 2008-2012 (international economic law).

  • Board member and/or officer, Trade Policy Forum, Washington, DC, 2008-present.

  • American Bar Association International Trade Steering Group; DC Bar International Trade Committee, co-chair 1986-88.

  • Commissioner, Japan-US Friendship Commission, 2006-2012.

  • Pro bono counsel for public-private partnerships in international health: Roll Back Malaria Partnership, 2006, 2008; Stop TB Partnership, 2004.