U.S. CUSTOMSÆ SEIDEL TO JOIN BAKER & MCKENZIE IN MID-AUGUST
Stuart P. Seidel, U.S. Customs’ assistant commissioner for the Office of Regulations and Rulings, said he will retire from the agency on Aug. 10 to become a partner with law firm Baker & McKenzie in Washington.
Seidel joined Customs in 1969 as a customs law specialist in New York. A year later, he transferred to the Customs’ Office of Chief Counsel in Washington. He served as legal advisor to the Customs Air Security program and as representative to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Agency for International Development Customs Advisory Team to the Republic of Vietnam, and acting regional counsel in Boston.
In 1974, Seidel was appointed assistant chief counsel (enforcement and operations), supervising Customs enforcement-related litigation and legislation. He was named Customs’ regional counsel in the Southeast region in 1986.
Seidel became director of the agency’s Regulatory Procedures and Penalties Division at the Office of Regulations and Rulings (ORR) in 1988. He became director of the International Trade Compliance Division during a reorganization of ORR that shortly followed. He oversaw 50 attorneys, paralegals and support staff in the Penalties Branch, Carrier Rulings Branch, Intellectual Property Rights Branch, Regulations Branch and Disclosure Law Branch.
Seidel was appointed to assistant commissioner of ORR in 1994. His staff increased to 120, including 130 technical experts in New York’s National Commodity Specialists Division and the Customs Information Exchange.
Seidel said that one of the highlights of his 32 years at the Customs Service has been working with importers to improve their compliance with the regulations of the agency. He also cited his work with overseas customs agencies to improve their handling of U.S.-origin goods.
At Baker & McKenzie, Seidel is expected to cover customs and trade-related issues for the law firm’s International Group. He plans to start at the firm in mid-August.
Seidel received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School and was admitted into the New York Bar in 1970. He was also admitted to the D.C. Bar, the Court of International Trade, the Court of Appeals for D.C., Federal and 11th Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court.