Philip S. Gallas

Partner | Corporate

About

Mr. Gallas has worked as a regulator with U.S. Customs and Department of Commerce, as an attorney at private customs and trade boutiques, with practice groups at national law firms as well as in the trade and customs practice of a Big 4 accounting firm. His day-to-day practice utilizes his extensive administrative regulatory experience, with a focus on import, export, and international trade compliance.


Practices

  • International Trade

  • Government and Government Affairs

  • Energy, Renewables, and Sustainability

Admissions

  • District of Columbia

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

  • U.S. Court of International Trade


Education

  • American University Washington College of Law, JD, 1978

  • Washington University in St. Louis, B.A. in English Literature & French, 1975

  • University of Strasbourg, France, Study Abroad


Awards and Honors

  • 2nd Annual International Trade Law Society Distinguished Alumni Award, American University Washington College of Law (2008)

  • Law360 International Trade Editorial Advisory Board (2017-2015, 2011-2010)

Law Firm Experience

  • FisherBroyles, LLP

  • Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (now Dentons)

  • KPMG


Corporate Experience

As an international practitioner in law firm Corporate departments and in the International Corporate Services department of a Big Four accounting firm, Mr. Gallas conducted import and export due diligence in numerous Merger & Acquisition deals.


Representative Transactions

  • Argued to Pacific Northwest Customs & Border Protection (CBP) port that a client’s goods were not subject to AD duties, resulting in return of several hundred thousand dollars of additional duties previously collected and abandonment of an initial claim for a million dollars in additional duties.

  • Obtained ruling from CBP National Commodity Specialist Division that electronic components separately imported and assembled in the U.S. were substantially transformed into a new article exempting the foreign components from individual country of origin marking requirements.

  • Counseled a U.S.-based global company on relaxation of Treasury Department (OFAC) sanctions on Cuba to permit licensing of building products to be exported from U.S. for Cuban development project.

Presentations and Teaching Experience

  • Pierson Ferdinand Presentations:

    • Corporate Practice: “IEEPA Tariff Refunds: CAPE Phase 1,” April 7, 2026

    • International Practice: “Import Tariffs Post-SCOTUS: Where Are We Now?”, May 13, 2026

    • Trade Webinar on Tariffs, May 2025

  • “Antidumping & Countervailing Duty,” Van Andel Global Trade Center, July 2018

  • “Section 232 Tariffs,” District of Columbia Bar, International Law Community, June 2018

  • “Customs Value and Related Party Pricing,” Women in International Trade – Northern California, March 2013

  • “What Every Lawyer Should Know About International Business Law: Introduction to U.S. Trade Remedies,” Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, January 2010

  • “90 Days Until Destruction: How to Release an FDA Hold,” Thompson Interactive Webinar, January 2009


Publications