As part of counseling and advising clients on the full-spectrum of workplace-related matters, FortneyScott has a growing international practice. Our international practice includes international dispute resolution and counseling foreign-based clients on complying with U.S. workplace, tax and immigration laws. We also assist U.S. employers in expanding outside the U.S., including advising on the establishment of foreign workplaces and the application of foreign labor/employment laws, reviewing and advising on relevant U.S. and foreign tax laws and treaties, and drafting and advising on expatriate agreements. Our professional services in the international arena are constantly broadening in response to our clients’ needs and growth.

Jacqueline R. Scott, co-founder of FortneyScott, heads our international practice. Ms. Scott has significant experience and expertise in adjudicating both U.S. and international commercial and employment disputes. She served for many years as the United States’ Member and the First Vice President of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal, the seven-member, independent appellate forum of last resort that adjudicated claims made by United  Nations employees worldwide.

Ms. Scott is a frequent lecturer on issues of international labor and employment law, including data privacy, expatriate agreements, international tax, and human rights. Ms. Scott holds key leadership positions in international professional organizations. She serves as Co-Deputy Director, Human Rights and Protection of Lawyers, Union Internationale des Avocats (the “UIA”), an association of international lawyers that is committed to the protection of human rights and the defense of their universal nature. She is a member of the ITC Pro-Bono Committee on International Model Contracts for Exporting SME’s and is an American Bar Association representative to the UIA.

As an outgrowth of its strong international practice and related professional services, in 2009, FortneyScott launched the Global Workplace Compliance Network (the “GWCN”) (www.gwcnetwork.com), a joint project between the firm and ORC - Mercer. The GWCN is a unique source of global workplace compliance information and networking that provides its members--U.S.-based corporate counsel and other senior workplace compliance professionals of major, multinational corporations--with access to vetted international lawyers, as well as a forum of their peers in which they can discuss the recent developments in international labor and employment law. To this end, the GWCN helps members face increasingly complex compliance challenges by putting members in contact with global experts on important issues such as new legislation and court decisions; regulations regarding international layoffs, relocations, redeployments; cross-border compliance; and managing employment issues across multiple jurisdictions.