About
Bryan Elwood

When he took the challenge in 2011, the company was a quickly developing trading company with a basic legal structure and no compliance department.  Within 10 years the group was earning over $12 billion in revenue produced by over 40 companies worldwide. Bryan developed the legal and compliance structures and departments from the ground up, creating and leading a team of highly skilled lawyers and compliance specialists, administering thousands of contracts per year and addressing various regulatory and competitive market access issues. The structure he developed allows for purchases and sales to and from more than 80 countries, the management of hundreds of international disputes and the handling of all types of legal and practical issues impacting a company trading globally.

Bryan Elwood participated in representing the Korean steel industry and the Canadian softwood lumber industry, working with companies and governments to increase access for their products accused of unfair trade practices.   Bryan represented industry associations and national councils in reducing bilateral trade irritants.  Bryan’s experience covers customs, export controls and sanctions advice, consumer product safety as well as trade, patent and financial crimes litigation. 

Bryan Elwood represented Mexico at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), participated in negotiating Mexico’s accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, with Mexico being the only developing country in the group) and was a member of Mexico’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiation team. NAFTA led to the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world.  He was one of the drafters of Mexico’s first regulation allowing 100% foreign direct investment into the country.  He advised Mexico’s Minister of Trade on bilateral matters with the United States ranging from product standards to national security and served as witness on trade issues before the US International Trade Commission.  Bryan was appointed by the governments of the three NAFTA signatory nations as an expert to resolve unfair trade disputes.  He lobbied Mexico’s most important trade matters of the time before the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Department of Commerce, including transportation, steel, cement, tomato and tuna market access.

Bryan is licensed to practice law in both of the predominant global legal systems, the United States (a common law country) and Mexico (a civil law country).  Bryan was Editor-in-Chief of the NAFTA Arbitration Reports, published by Cameron May and has written various articles tackling a variety of international trade issues.  Bryan was a Professor at Tulane / McGill University joint program teaching NAFTA and has appeared for expert commentary in Bloomberg News (Spanish Edition) and CNN en Español.

Bryan Elwood was a founder of the Consejo Mexicano para el Desarrollo Economico y Social (COMDES), a business-promoting association, and President of the U.S.-Mexico Bar Association, an organization focused on bringing Mexican and US lawyers together. Bryan Elwood was also an advisor on Trade Capacity Building for the Organization of American States (OAS).