Member Profiles

CHARLES CROWLEY is a member of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., resident in the New York office. As a nationally-recognized authority on international trade and business law, Mr. Crowley has substantial experience leading and directing global trade and customs practices. He concentrates his practice on assisting multinational corporations with a wide variety of customs and international trade activities, including international supply chain security and management, intellectual property rights, import/export process management, antidumping and countervailing duty matters, unfair trade actions and anti-corruption compliance. In addition, Mr. Crowley provides counsel to clients on customs issues such as first sale and other valuation matters, duty refunds and tax/tariff reductions, foreign-trade zones and customs audits. He also advises clients on penalty matters and brings considerable insight to these issues as a former attorney with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Regulations and Rulings and as a licensed U.S. Customs Broker in good standing since 1999.

Adrienne Braumiller is the founder of Braumiller Law Group PLLC and an innovative force in the international trade law arena. With more than 25 years of experience, she is widely recognized as a leading authority in Customs, import, export, foreign-trade zones, free trade agreements and ITAR compliance. Adrienne has been involved in every aspect of import and export compliance, from developing compliance programs to conducting audits and assessments, representing clients who are under investigation, preparing and submitting voluntary disclosures, preparing and filing classification requests and licenses, analyzing whether specific transactions should be pursued, providing tailored training on specific import/export topics, addressing penalty assessments, and serving as an expert witness in a number of trade cases. Over the last few years, both Adrienne and her firm have received numerous awards in recognition of her/ the firm’s leadership and its dedication to excellence. • The State Bar of Texas named Adrienne as the latest recipient of the prestigious Sarah T. Hughes Women Lawyers of Achievement Award for 2019. The award honors the accomplishments of women who have achieved outstanding recognition in their professional area and who, by doing so, have paved the way for success for other women attorneys. Only one-woman attorney is chosen each year for this award. Currently in the state of Texas there are 37,477 women attorneys. • Adrienne was recently selected to serve as the Co-Chair of the Customs Law Committee of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association; previously she served as the Vice Chair – Diversity. • IR Global selected Adrienne and her firm in 2018 to be its exclusive representative for Trade & Customs in Texas. IR Global, recognized by Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500, is the fastest growing professional service network in the world, dedicated to providing world class legal, accountancy and financial advice to companies and individuals across 155+ jurisdictions. • Chambers and Partners, www.chambersandpartners.com (Chambers) identifies and ranks the most outstanding law firms and lawyers in over 180 jurisdictions throughout the world. Adrienne has been named by Chambers and Partners as a Leader in her Field related to International Trade: Customs in both its U.S. and Global Guides every year from 2015 – 2020.

Bruce Leeds has decades of experience in international trade law and has successfully served his clients in diverse capacities, from classification and due diligence, to ITAR compliance and drawback. He has significant expertise with importing and exporting high tech products. Bruce has taught several different courses, and been a speaker, at various conferences related to international trade law for more than 30 years. At Boeing, Bruce served as the internal expert on import and export laws and regulations. His accomplishments included chairing the Global Committee established within the Office of Internal Governance to provide research, response, and guidance, on U.S. and non-U.S. changes to export-import laws, regulations, and procedures. Additionally, Bruce was appointed as a company representative to the Private Sector Consultative Group of the World Customs Organization in Brussels. Bruce has held a number of prestigious leadership positions over the years and continues to do so. He is an active member, and serves on the Board of Governors, for the American Association of Exporters & Importers. He is a Board Member, and past President, of the Foreign Trade Association, as well as Chair of Women in International Trade (Los Angeles). He is also a member of the International Compliance Professionals Association (ICPA), and the Society for International Affairs (SIA). Recognized for his wealth of knowledge, Bruce was appointed by the U.S. Treasury Secretary, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to serve for two terms on the Departmental Advisory Committee on the Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC). He also served as the Chair of COAC in 2007 and 2008.

Devin Sefton advises clients on a host of international trade issues, including matters pertaining to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., among other regulatory agencies. Devin routinely advises on import-related issues such as classification under the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule, customs valuation, the rules of origin, and preferential and deferred duty programs. He also regularly assists clients with protests, prior disclosures, detentions and seizures, and Section 301 and 232 exclusion requests. Devin’s export-related practice includes advising clients on export controls and sanctions issues, including compliance with the Export Administration Regulations, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and the regulations of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. He assists companies with export classification, transactional due diligence, license applications, requests for guidance, and voluntary self-disclosures, among other issues. Devin also regularly advises clients on a broad range of sanctions programs and assists in establishing global trade compliance processes and procedures. His experience in advising on cross-border transactions also includes assisting clients with matters before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and advising on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Olga Torres is the Founder and Managing Member of Torres Trade Law and its affiliate advisory firm Torres Trade Advisory, LLC. A dynamic and experienced attorney, she regularly guides clients – businesses in the hi-tech, defense contracting, telecommunications, aerospace, semiconductor, and satellite industries as well as highly regulated technology start-ups, blue-chip investment funds, and private equity groups – through a broad range of complex strategic and regulatory trade controls and national security matters, including developing effective strategies and conducting negotiations with U.S. regulatory agencies and, when needed, other regulators around the world. Ms. Torres works with clients to identify and respond to a variety of supply-chain risks and issues related to due diligence, foreign investment, sustainability and ESG, export control, and national security. She has particular strengths helping them create operational efficiencies, develop strategy, and keep their companies compliant and prosperous. Clients with operations around the globe turn to Ms. Torres for assistance in ascertaining legal risks and improving legal compliance, and to manage complex investigative and administrative enforcement cases involving U.S. federal agencies. They also seek out her experience and guidance to obtain clearance of transactions that are subject to review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and to identify and negotiate measures to mitigate Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI). In addition to her representation of private and public companies based throughout the world, Ms. Torres also advises the U.S. Department of State on defense trade matters as part of her appointment, by the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, to the Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG). Ms. Torres regularly counsels clients on compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-bribery laws, and has broad experience developing compliance programs, providing training, and conducting sensitive internal FCPA compliance investigations in English and Spanish for companies large and small. Ms. Torres is a widely recognized attorney, public speaker, writer, and subject-matter expert on strategic trade risks. She brings a diverse perspective to both domestic and international companies in sensitive and hi-tech industries on highly regulated, technical, and complex areas of the law. She regularly represents companies before, and coordinates on behalf of her clients with, multiple federal agencies, including U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Energy, and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, to name a few. Ms. Torres frequently lectures on export controls and international trade for organizations, universities, and government agencies in different countries, including in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Mexico, Thailand, France, Canada, and the United States. She is the author of several chapters on international trade in the WorldECR's Export Compliance Manager's Handbook, the Society of International Affairs Export Voluntary Disclosure Handbook, and other global publications. Throughout her career, Ms. Torres has been selected for recognition in multiple attorney ranking guides and publications including in Chambers and Partners USA (2018, 2019, and 2021), Who’s Who Legal (2017-2021), and SuperLawyers Rising Stars (2015-2018). Prior to founding Torres Trade Law, she was an attorney in the International & Cross Border Transactions group at an Am 100 Law Firm in Washington, D.C. In her spare time, Ms. Torres likes to travel, work out, attend the opera, eat spicy Indian, Thai, and Mexican food, and spend quality time with her family and sons.