FREE Newsletter Subscribe

ASSOCIATES

Lara A. Austrins
Associate Attorney
laustrins@chicago.rorlaw.com
(773) 314-5004

Lara A. Austrins is an associate attorney in our Chicago office.  Ms. Austrins concentrates her practice in Customs and International Trade Law. Ms. Austrins advises clients on regulatory matters, including tariff classification, valuation, country of origin determinations, marking requirements, and intellectual property protection. 

Ms. Austrins assists clients in administrative proceedings, including the following:

  • requests for binding rulings;
  • protests;
  • prior disclosures of violations;
  • penalties and liquidated damage s mitigation;
  • antidumping and countervailing duty matters;
  • free trade agreements;
  • duty preference programs;
  • export licensing matters.

Admitted to Practice:
Illinois Bar (1999)
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1999)
U.S. Court of International Trade (2000)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (2007)

Associations:
American and Chicago Bar Associations
Society of International Affairs
Organization of Women in International Trade

Languages: Latvian (Native Speaker Proficiency)

Contact Information:
Direct Line: (773) 314-5004
E-Mail:        laustrins@chicago.rorlaw.com
Address: 8430 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Suite 525,
Chicago, IL 60631,
Fax:   (773) 314-1719

 

 

Lexia B. Krown
lkrown@chicago.rorlaw.com
(773) 314-5003

Lexia B. Krown is an associate attorney in our Chicago office.  Ms. Krown’s practice encompasses both import and export law.  She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Goshen College, Indiana, in 1999, and a Juris Doctor degree from the Ohio State University in 2010.

 Prior to law school, Ms. Krown developed extensive expertise in the area of Export Regulatory Compliance while managing export compliance for two large 3PL’s: Exel Global Logistics, Inc. and UTi, United States, Inc.

Because her practice focuses on various aspects of the export and import processes, as well as forwarder and NVOCC matters, Ms. Krown advises clients on a variety of issues, including:

  • export licensing (the Department of State, Department of Commerce, Office of Foreign Assets Control);
  • Automated Export System (AES) compliance;
  • Embargoes, sanctions, and anti-boycott law;
  • Export Compliance System: creation and implementation;
  • Export Compliance Audit Programs: creation and implementation;
  • merchandise classifications: HTSUS, Commerce Control List (CCL), US Munitions List (USML), and Schedule B;
  • DOT HAZMAT Security Plan: creation and implementation;
  • conducting C-TPAT, Import Compliance Audits, and Export Compliance Audits;
  • Federal Maritime Commission compliance;
  • Protests and Ruling Requests;
  • international documentary requirements;
  • CARNET’s;
  • Customs penalties;
  • Antidumping Scope Rulings.

While in law school, Ms. Krown was awarded the Donald S. Teller award for the student publication that contributed most significantly to The Ohio State Law Journal scholarship. She was an Associate Editor of the Ohio State Law Journal and served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.  Ms. Krown attended Oxford University, where she completed coursework in international trade law, international intellectual property law, and comparative law (the E.U., U.K., and U.S.).

Admitted to Practice:
Illinois

Associations:
Chicago Bar Associations
Society of International Affairs
Organization of Women in International Trade
American Bar Association, International Trade Law

Education:
Goshen College (BA, Business 1999)
The Ohio State University (JD, 2010)

Languages:
Russian (Native Speaker Proficiency)
Ukrainian (Intermediate)

Contact Information:
Direct:  (773) 314-5003
E-Mail:  lkrown@chicago.rorlaw.com
Linkedin:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/lexiakrown
Office Tel:  (773) 314-5000
Address: 8430 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Suite 525
Chicago, IL 60631
 

 

Jessica R. Rifkin
jrifkin@chicago.rorlaw.comn
(773) 314-5005

Jessica R. Rifkin is an associate attorney in our Chicago office.  Ms. Rifkin concentrates her practice in Customs and International Trade law. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bryn Mawr College in 1983, and her Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1986.

Ms. Rifkin’s practice focuses on all aspects of the import and export process, including the following:

  • tariff classification and valuation of imported merchandise;
  • country of origin determinations;
  • markings;
  • import, export, and NAFTA compliance programs;
  • seizures and penalties;
  • intellectual property protection;
  • anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases.
  • the U.S. restrictions on trade administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC);
  • the U.S. cabotage laws (Jones Act). 

Ms. Rifkin has special expertise in the area of Customs litigation.  She has argued cases before both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Prior to joining Rodriguez O’Donnell, Ms. Rifkin was an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP and was Counsel to the Washington, D.C. office of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.

Admitted to Practice:
New York Bar (1987);
District of Columbia Bar (1988);
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit;
U.S. Court of International Trade

Contact Information:
Direct Line: (773) 314-5005
E-Mail:        jrifkin@chicago.rorlaw.comn
Address: 8430 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Suite 525,
Chicago, IL 60631,
Fax: (773) 314-1719

 

 

Zheng Xie
Associate Attorney
zxie@rorlaw.com
(202) 973-2981

Bar Admission: Admitted to New York Bar, May 2007
Admitted to Chinese Bar, October 2002


Education: Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri (J.D, May 2007)
Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri (LLM, May 2005)
University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China
 (LLM in International Law, June 2004)
University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China
 (B.A.: Economics, June 2001）


Practice Areas: Concentrates her practice in Transportation Law, Admiralty, Regulatory Maritime Law, Insurance Law, International Commercial Transactional Law, Transportation Litigation, and Commerce and State Department Licensing Issues, Corporate and Business Litigation, Entity Formation, Corporate Governance.

Provides opinions to the U.S. clients doing business in China; advises Chinese clients doing business in the U.S.; liaisons with Chinese government agencies regarding regulatory and enforcement matters; liaisons with the Embassy of the PRC in the U.S.; counsels U.S. clients regarding compliance with Chinese laws and regulations; manages and coordinates with Chinese law firms for clients’ legal proceedings in China; files litigation documentation with federal and state courts; communicates with federal government agencies; conducts legal research and drafts legal memoranda on corporate, business, international trade and transportation issues; prepares documents and files applications with federal agencies; interviews and contacts clients; assists in drafting and negotiating sales, transport, warehouse, and other contracts on behalf of clients operating in China.

Practices before federal agencies and courts regarding international trade, international transportation, corporate issues, commercial transactions, and related regulatory matters; counsels clients on transportation, admiralty, customs, export controls, trade sanctions, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, anti-boycott and related trade laws and procedures, including enforcement actions, regulatory audits and the development of compliance programs; represents clients in federal agencies proceedings, legislative and rulemaking proceedings, trade negotiations, insurance claim negotiations.

Language: Mandarin Chinese (Native)

 

 To top of page