USC launches new center to help businesses deal with global trade policies

Brian Peck, a top international trade specialist in Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, has been tapped by the USC Gould School of Law to launch a new center focusing on transnational law.

The USC Center for Transnational Law and Business aims to promote policy analysis and debate to help international businesses deal with complex trade and compliance policies around the world.

Peck, who served as deputy director of international affairs and business development for Brown and as senior director at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, began his new position Nov. 15.

“The reality of business is global,” said USC Gould Dean Andrew Guzman, an international law scholar. “Though laws are made at the national level, businesses act across borders and so must adapt to regulations and requirements that vary from place to place and time to time.

“The mission of the center is to engage in research in the area of international law and business and to bring academics, business people, lawyers and government officials together to discuss and debate the most important topics

The center’s activities will include:

• production of scholarly research and policy proposals on transnational business law issues
• convening government officials, lawyers and business people for conversation and debate
• training a new generation of domestic and foreign attorneys and policymakers for leadership in global law and business.

The center will launch its first conference in January, focusing and providing policy analysis, research and education on antitrust enforcement in a global context. Regulators from several jurisdictions, in-house counsel, law firm attorneys and academics will discuss matters of transparency, due process and comity — all of which have been at issue in worldwide investigations involving high-tech companies in the antitrust area.

“We are proud to be a thought leader in the area of international law and business,” Guzman said. “As a top law school, we believe it is our responsibility to contribute practical and lasting solutions to issues facing global leaders and businesses.”