Professionals
206.816.1305 
206.464.0125 
Charles Routh recently retired from practicing law full-time. He serves our firm in an Of Counsel capacity by assisting our lawyers in international business matters.
Mr. Routh's practice has included counseling business clients on many aspects of international law, including international trade, international antitrust, transnational dispute resolution and U.S. customs law. His customs practice encompasses vessel repair, valuation, classification, and country-of-origin issues; penalty proceedings in local and regional Customs Offices; and proceedings before Customs Headquarters and the Court of International Trade.
He has served as lead counsel for several of the major international antitrust cases involving Japanese companies during the last 20 years, including the fish and fax paper cases. He has served as arbitrator in over 40 arbitrations, several of which involved multinational panels adjudicating disputes among non-U.S. parties.
He has lived and practiced law on four continents, including most recently, living for an academic year in Bratislava, Slovakia, on a Fulbright grant to teach International Law at Comenius University.
Professional Activities
- Adjunct Professor, International Business Transactions, Seattle University School of Law, 2002-2010
- Professor, International Law, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, under a Fulbright grant from the U.S. State Department, 2006-2007
- Arbitrator, International Chamber of Commerce
- Member, Customs and International Trade Bar Association, 1989-present
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Council Member, Section of International Law and Practice, American Bar Association, 1980-1983, 2000-2006; Council Committee Liaison and Divisional Vice Chair of Section, 2004-2006; Chair, Membership Committee, 2002-2004; Technology Officer, 2000-2002; Chair, Section Technology Committee, 1995-2002; Co-Chair, Seasoned Lawyers Interest Network, 2010-2012
- Chair, Committee on International Aspects of Litigation, Section of International Law and Practice, American Bar Association, 1984-1986; Chair, Committee on Far Eastern Law, 1977-1982; Co-Chair, Committee on International Litigation, 1994-1995; Chair, National Institute on the Legal Aspects of Doing Business with Japan and East Asia, 1977
- Chair, Section of International Law, King County Bar Association, 1984-1986
Publications
- "Customs Proposes to Eliminate the 'First Sale' Rule," Garvey Schubert Barer Legal Update, December 9, 2008.
- "Drafting Clauses For International Arbitration (With Forms)," ALI-ABA Business Law Course Materials Journal, April 2006.
- "Conducting Discovery in China & Japan," co-author, The International Litigation Quarterly, Spring/Summer 2006.
- "United States Customs Law: Let the Trader Beware," Garvey Schubert Barer Legal Update, August 1, 2005.
- "A Brief Introduction to Product Liability Law in the United States," China Chamber of Commerce for Machinery and Electronics News Report, 3rd Issue, 2002.
- "Court of International Trade Clarifies Vessel Repair Customs Issues," Insider Forum, Professional Mariner, August 2001.
- "Technology Impact on Future of the Section," ABA International Law News, Winter 2001.
- "A Few Pointers on Customs Law," International Trade for the Nonspecialist, ALI-ABA, 2000.
