WASHINGTON, May 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Shara Aranoff, former Commissioner and Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, has joined Covington & Burling as of counsel in the firm's intellectual property and international trade practices. Ms. Aranoff will focus on advising clients in Section 337 investigations as well as in international trade litigation, enforcement, and policy related matters.

Ms. Aranoff joins an award-winning global team of full-time Section 337 attorneys, highly regarded IP litigators and attorneys with technical backgrounds who work in conjunction with Covington's international trade experts to assist clients with their toughest global IP and trade concerns. Managing Intellectual Property magazine recently named Covington & Burling "International Trade Commission Firm of the Year" for the second time in four years. Ms. Aranoff will also assist clients on a broad range of trade law and policy matters as a member of Covington's International Trade group which in 2012 earned Chambers USA's top award for International Trade and is short-listed for the award again this year. 

"Shara will be a tremendous addition to the firm. She is a highly respected and accomplished regulator, lawyer, and authority on global trade matters. We believe that the insights and expertise she has gained from serving in the highest ranks of the ITC, including her two years as head of the agency, will further strengthen our top-ranked Section 337 litigation and international trade practices. We are honored to have her join Covington," said Timothy Hester, chairman of the firm's management committee. 

Ms. Aranoff was nominated to the commission by President George W. Bush in 2005. During her tenure at the ITC, Ms. Aranoff served as chairman and vice chairman of the commission. Ms. Aranoff previously served as senior international trade counsel on the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, where she was responsible for legislative and policy issues on international trade and investment, including the Trade Act of 2002; negotiations involving the World Trade Organization, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and numerous free trade agreements; trade remedy laws; Trade Adjustment Assistance; and trade-related environment and labor issues. She also served as an attorney-advisor in the Office of the General Counsel at the ITC.

"I am delighted to be joining Covington and working with such a high caliber of lawyers, including my new colleagues in the intellectual property and international trade groups," Ms. Aranoff said. "I look forward to helping clients navigate the myriad regulatory, policy and compliance issues related to their IP litigation strategies."

Ms. Aranoff earned a bachelor's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. She is a former law clerk to Justice Herbert P. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.