Mark S. Zolno

Mark S. Zolno is the founder and Head of the Customs and International Trade Practice. His experience is in tariff classification, rates of duty and valuation of imported merchandise; country-of-origin determinations; customs audits; customs penalty cases; and antidumping and other unfair trade practices. Mr. Zolno also advises clients regarding U.S. export laws and regulations, including restrictions on disclosure of U.S. origin technology to foreign nationals; civil and criminal export control investigations; and compliance with U.S. trade embargoes.

Mr. Zolno has represented clients before numerous U.S. federal regulatory agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Food and Drug Administration. He also has represented clients in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO) trade negotiations, and in Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other free trade agreement origin verifications, as well as in other international trade matters.

Mr. Zolno has lectured on U.S., Canadian and WTO customs and trade law matters to numerous groups, including the Food and Drug Law Institute, the World Trade Institute, the Chicago Bar Association, Women in International Trade, the Milwaukee Association of Purchase Management, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, JETRO, the International Trade Club of Chicago, the Milan Chamber of Commerce, the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce, the American Association of Exporters and Importers, Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, WESCCON, National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, the U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce, the International Compliance Professionals Association (ICPA), the Midwest Global Trade Association (MGTA) and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). A frequent author, Mr. Zolno has written articles for publications including Commerce magazine, the Food Drug Cosmetic Law Journal and The Corporate Compliance & Regulatory Newsletter. He also has been quoted in numerous publications, including Crain’s Chicago Business, The Journal of Commerce, Traffic World, Latin America Law & Business Report, Compliance Week, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, North American Free Trade & Investment Report and International Trade Law360.

Mr. Zolno is a former member of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce, a past chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Customs and U.S. Trade Law Committee, and a former director of the Court of International Trade Bar Association, the International Trade Club of Chicago and the International Trade Association of Greater Chicago. He is recognized in the 2012 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business.