CBP Chief Counsel Fred Smith announced his retirement from CBP in a recent LinkedIn post. Smith, who said he will be retiring at the end of March, has been with CBP over 10 years. A successor has not yet been named on CBP's website.

Trade and patent attorney James Jeffries has rejoined Kutak Rock as an attorney in the intellectual property and corporate practice group, the firm announced. Jeffries worked as chief legal officer at Kuat Innovations from 2021 to 2025 after initially working for Kutak Rock as an attorney and partner from 2018 to 2021. At Kutak, Jeffries will work on trademark and patent matters, along with customs and international trade issues, including tariff exposure mitigation and vendor relationship structuring.

The entire international trade practice of Curtis Mallet-Prevost has joined Pillsbury Winthrop, Pillsbury announced on March 17. Led by partners Daniel Porter, Matthew McCullough and James Durling, the 14-member trade team will greatly expand Pillsbury's international trade practice, the firm said. Porter was the head of Curtis' trade practice, initially joining the firm in 2012.

Jane Dempsey, former attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the International Trade Commission, has joined Polsinelli as counsel in the trade remedies practice, the firm said. At the ITC, Dempsey served as lead counsel in trade remedies litigation before the Court of International Trade and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The Washington International Trade Association announced that Nasim Fussell is the new chair of its board of directors. Steve Lamar of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, who had been the WITA board’s chair since 2004, will remain on as a board member. Fussell leads the trade practice at lobbying firm Lot Sixteen. She was previously chief international trade counsel for the Senate Finance Committee and, before that, trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee.

Correction: Former CBP official Felicia Pullam has joined the newly created Center for Trade, Investment and Market Access within APCO, an advisory firm (see 2503040034).

Former CBP official Felicia Pullam has joined the newly created Center for Trade, Investment and Market Access within APCO International, an advisory firm. Pullam was most recently executive director of CBP's Office of Trade Relations.

Stacy Hernandez, a former international trade specialist at the Commerce Department, was “let go” from her position March 3 amid the Trump administration's sweeping cuts of employees who are still on probationary status. March 4 would have been her first day off probation, she said on LinkedIn. She joined ITA last year after working in the Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Technology Evaluation.

Matthew Axelrod, the Bureau of Industry and Security's former export enforcement chief, has joined Gibson Dunn to help lead the firm's new sanctions and export enforcement practice group. Axelrod and former Treasury Department senior adviser Adam Smith will co-chair the new group, which they said will aim to help clients navigate rising export control and sanctions risks.

Kristine Carrillo, an international trade specialist with the Commerce Department, was told her position was “terminated” this week as part of the Trump administration's sweeping cuts of employees who are still on probationary status, she announced on LinkedIn. Carrillo joined the International Trade Administration in December 2023 and worked to "advance opportunities for U.S. companies" through meetings with foreign governments visiting the U.S. on trade missions.