V. Susanne Cook

Susanne chairs the firm’s International Business Group. She is a business attorney focusing her practice on counseling companies on international and domestic business transactions, joint ventures, customs, export and licensing matters. She is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America for international trade and finance and in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers.

Areas of Concentration

Susanne’s areas of concentration include:

• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Domestic and International Joint Ventures and Direct Foreign Investments
• Sales Representation, Distribution and Technology Licensing Agreements
• Domestic and International Terms and Conditions of Sale
• Customs and Export Compliance Issues
• Country focus: Germany, Europe, Brazil, Chile and Mexico

Representative Transactions

• Routinely represents German and other foreign companies on how to structure their U.S. operations
• Structured international and domestic product distribution and licensing systems that take into account the limitations imposed by local culture and law, while attending to the business needs of the client;
• Negotiated and structured international and domestic acquisitions and joint ventures in the United States and abroad, including China, Korea, Brazil and Mexico, focusing on minimizing and safeguarding intellectual capital;
• Routinely represents clients on how to structure their export and import operations;
• Frequently participates in public speaking opportunities and export seminars. For example, Susanne participated as a speaker in an internationally attended seminar sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the Center for International Legal Education concerning the UN Convention for the International Sale of Goods.

Teaching Experience

• Adjunct Professor of University of Pittsburgh Translation Department
• Adjunct Professor of Duquesne University MBA Program
• Global Trade Institute of Pennsylvania, Legal and Tax – Understanding the Basics

Professional Organizations and Community Involvement

• Board Member of Western Pennsylvania District Export Council; Assists the U.S. Commercial Service in promoting export throughout the Western Pennsylvania Region
• Board Member of the Pittsburgh Council for International Visitors
• Board Member of University of Pittsburgh School of Law Center for International Legal Education; Assists the School of Law in the development and implementation of course offerings and related programs that focus on international, public and private law.
• Technical Advisor to the Regional Export Assistance Network of the Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission; Chosen by the Commission since 1996 as the only attorney to advise on export strategies for the seven-county region of Pennsylvania served by the Commission

Languages

• Fluent in German