Deanna Clark

My Story

Deanna as a Lawyer
Deanna and her team have:

• Saved our clients millions of dollars through the successful defense against government agency actions.

• Boosted our client’s ability to increase their bottom line through creative legal solutions.

• Implemented legal compliance into our client’s daily operations, resulting in the prevention of government allegations (of wrongdoing) and disruptive intervention.

• Enabled our clients to focus on their business and what matters the most to them while we managed multi-government investigations on their behalf.

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She regularly presents at national training sessions to showcase legal updates, explains how to avoid the consequences of non-compliance, and imparts best practices in an ever-evolving legal landscape.

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Deanna as an Educator
Deanna has had a teaching career as an Adjunct Professor for nearly 10 years at both public and private institutions in New York City, including at the State Univ. of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), Baruch College, and LIM College, where she has taught International Business Law and other business and legal subjects, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.  While at FIT, she received both faculty recognition and an award from the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes for her analysis of African Fashion and the US Free Trade Agreements.  She further served on the university’s Diversity Council, as appointed by the university President, to ensure civility across campus in the face of diversity and inclusion measures.

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Her passion for educating others extends to her law firm’s vast YouTube video library, which proudly touts being the world’s largest private sector generated, no-cost, publicly available, quality videos on legal compliance topics involving importing and exporting, tobacco and other topics for highly regulated industries.

Deanna is the author of A Practical Guide to Fashion Law and Compliance (Bloomsbury Publishing) which has been used to teach in both domestic and foreign universities.

Deanna as a Speaker
As a strong believer in the power of owning your own business, Deanna is passionate about protecting small businesses and setting them up to thrive.  She further believes that the best businesses are educated ones, and for this reason, she generously presents at government events and institutions of higher learning, including these recent events:

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• "Managing a CBP Hold For a Shipment Destined to an OFAC Restricted Country,” for World Trade Week with OWIT-NY (May 2024)

• Presenter, “ITAR and OFAC Sanctions Program,” for US Commercial Service (Dept. of Commerce) ACE Export Compliance Seminar (June 2023 and June 2024)

• Panelist, “Fashion and Law Forum,” Berkeley College (Feb. 2024)

• Speaker, “International Law and Contracts,” at Parsons School of Design (May 2022)

• Presenter, “Top 3 OFAC Mistakes Even Experienced Exporters Make,” for Lehigh Export Network (May 2022)

• Panelist, “Fashion Law Panel,” University of Iowa College of Law (Oct 2021)

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Deanna recognizes the importance of public speaking and is committed to disseminating her expertise. She is open to and encourages invitations to speak at various events. She can be contacted here.

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Deanna as a Philanthropist
The old adage, “It takes a village,” is one that Deanna takes to heart.  Supporting organizations in Fairfield County, CT, where she resides, Deanna is a member of Impact Fairfield County, a women’s philanthropy group that provides grants to deserving non-profit organizations in CT.  She also serves as a Board Member to the Cardinal Shehan Center which provides enriching afterschool and summer programs for low-income youth from Bridgeport, CT.

Deanna has supported the growth of women in business through her Board residency and past presidency with the New York chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT-NY), together with her current post as President Emeritus, along with serving as an Advisory Board Member to Africa Fashion Week New York. She has also shaped the development of the next generation in international trade through her prior tenure with the Urban Assembly School for Global Commerce, located in New York City’s famed Harlem neighborhood. Deanna is also an active member of the New York City Bar Association and, in particular, its Small Law Firm Committee.