LAWRENCE HANSON is Of Counsel for Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., resident in the Houston office, where he specializes in international trade and import and export regulations.
Mr. Hanson assists clients in the handling of penalty and liquidated damages claims; the detention, seizure, and forfeiture of merchandise; and audits, civil and criminal investigations, and similar actions taken by federal agencies that regulate imports and exports. He also assists with federal import and export licensing, permit, and registration requirements. He conducts privileged internal compliance reviews for importers, exporters, and other international trade participants, and he offers his experience and judgment toward the development of international trade-related compliance programs.
Mr. Hanson has more than 38 years of experience in international trade law, including more than 20 years running his own firm. Earlier in his career he served as assistant regional counsel for the U.S. Customs Service (now U.S. Customs and Border Protection), where he provided legal advice to Customs personnel including port directors, import specialists, inspectors, special agents, and fines, penalties, and forfeiture officers. He was also involved in the handling of civil and criminal investigations, audits, and other administrative actions; was cross-designated as a special assistant U.S. attorney representing Customs in U.S. federal district court; and conducted internal training programs for Customs personnel, including the customs law course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
In 2002 Mr. Hanson founded the Center for Global Trade Education and Compliance, which provides public and in-house training on import and export regulatory issues. He also created and serves as the director of Global Trade Regulatory Review, a nationwide grassroots organization designed to improve the administration of international trade regulations.
Since 1993 Mr. Hanson has been a member of the faculty at the University of Houston Law Center, where he teaches law school courses in U.S. import regulation and U.S. export controls. He has also lectured on international trade legal issues at other colleges and universities, governmental organizations, and public seminars as well as privately for corporate and trade organizations for almost 30 years.
Mr. Hanson is licensed to practice law in the states of Illinois and Texas and is admitted to practice in the Southern District of Texas, the Northern District of Illinois, the Court of International Trade, the Fifth and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He holds a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, as well as a B.A. in political science and economics from Northern Illinois University.
Mr. Hanson is currently a member of various American Bar Association working committees that relate to customs, import and export regulation, and international trade; has served as vice chair and then chair of the ABA Customs Committee; and co-chaired the Court of International Trade Bar Association’s Customs Committee. He also serves as U.S. counsel to the International Compliance Professionals Association. His other leadership experience in the field includes leading the Customs and International Trade and International Law sections of the State Bar of Texas as well as the U.S.-Mexico Bar Association and its Customs Committee.
Mr. Hanson is also an active participant in other professional organizations, including the International Compliance Professionals Association, the American Institute for International Steel, the American Association of Exporters and Importers, the American Petroleum Institute, and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America.