Lauren Mandell

Lauren Mandell is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of WilmerHale. Mr. Mandell advises companies, industry associations, and sovereign governments regarding a wide range of international trade and investment issues. Drawing on his experience at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Mr. Mandell specializes in the negotiation of free trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties, as well as international dispute settlement (including WTO dispute settlement and investor-state dispute settlement).

Prior to joining WilmerHale, Mr. Mandell served for six years in senior legal and policy roles at USTR. From 2016–2019, Mr. Mandell was the Deputy Assistant USTR for Investment, the agency’s lead for the negotiation, implementation, and enforcement of investment chapters of free trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties. In that role, he served as the U.S. lead negotiator of the investment chapter of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. From 2013-2016, Mr. Mandell served as an attorney-advisor in USTR’s Office of the General Counsel, including two years as Chief Counsel for Negotiations, Legislation, and Administrative Law. In that role, he served as the U.S. lead counsel in the Trans-Pacific Partnership investment chapter negotiations and U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty negotiations.

Mr. Mandell holds a J.D. and an LL.M. in international and comparative law from Duke University School of Law and a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. He previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer in China.

Mr. Mandell is a member of the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law and a delegate in ongoing discussions regarding investor-state dispute settlement reform in UNCITRAL Working Group III.