Barnes & Thornburg Named Among Law360’s 2025 International Trade Groups of the Year

Barnes & Thornburg was named an “International Trade Group of the Year” by Law360 for overseeing the federal government’s largest export compliance monitorship and securing several wins for U.S. ceramic tile manufacturers. The annual awards honor the practice groups behind the legal industry’s biggest deals and litigation victories in the past year.

In a Feb. 10 profile, Law360 noted that the firm’s high-stakes monitorship of ZTE Corp., which began in 2018, has led the nine-attorney team to travel around the globe to help ensure the Chinese telecommunications company complies with U.S. regulations.

“It’s still the largest U.S. government monitorship on export compliance, and it was the Commerce Department’s first monitorship, so it’s kind of historic,” said partner Linda Weinberg, co-chair of the group. She added that the team’s role is “to understand the complexities of these rules and to help explain them to the rest of our monitorship team, and also to help assess the compliance with those rules.”

The group was also busy securing “hugely important” rulings for U.S. tile makers with the U.S. International Trade Commission and Commerce Department, said partner David Spooner, co-chair of the group. The team balanced those tasks while helping clients understand the whirlwind of U.S. trade policy changes in 2025.

“Last year, our group spent a ton of time – non-billable time – every day absorbing the latest announcement, trying to interpret how it would impact clients,” Spooner said. Whereas trade compliance professionals were once able to “beaver away anonymously” in their offices, they’re now “getting called up at the CEO’s office every week” because of volatile U.S. trade policy, he added.

Barnes & Thornburg was previously awarded Law360’s “International Trade Group of the Year” in 2018, reflecting the group’s reputation as a marquee practice.

Read the full profile here.