Amanda L. Wetzel

How Amanda Helps Clients

Amanda specializes in commercial litigation and arbitration, international trade matters, white collar criminal defense, and defense of regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. 

At Buchanan, Amanda has focused on a variety of commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense matters in federal and state courts in Pennsylvania and New York and on international trade matters before the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce. 

Prior to joining Buchanan, Amanda was an associate at a New York city law firm where she gained experience litigating in state and federal courts in New York. She worked on the defense of a former Chief Financial Officer of a hedge fund who was accused of securities fraud and acquitted following trial in a U.S. federal district court and on SEC investigations and enforcement actions. In addition, Amanda’s experience also includes working on cybersecurity matters, including advising clients on legal obligations related to data breaches and on cryptocurrency regulatory issues. Early in her career, Amanda served as a judicial clerk for Judge Rosemary Barkett on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Miami, Florida.

Amanda also has deep experience in French law. In addition to her J.D. from Columbia Law School, she completed her French legal education at the Sorbonne and practiced law in France for four years. While in France, Amanda focused on French commercial and criminal litigation, French and American anti-corruption compliance, and international arbitration. She offers French clients doing business in the United States and American clients considering their European legal obligations an in-depth understanding of the legal and regulatory environment in both the United States and France. Amanda also has expertise in European Union law and served as the Dean Acheson legal stage at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

What Clients Can Expect

Amanda always works to achieve the best results for clients in line with their overall business or personal objectives. Amanda has strong attention to detail when providing legal advice yet never loses sight of the client’s big picture goals. Transatlantic clients can expect that Amanda will have a strong understanding of civil law legal systems and relevant European Union law while advising them on their U.S. litigation, arbitration, or cross-border compliance issue.   

I am a strong advocate for my clients’ interests and work hard to resolve their most challenging domestic and international legal problems. On litigation matters, I take pride in helping clients to achieve the best possible outcome for their case through implementing thoughtful strategies during all phases of litigation.

Outside the Office

Amanda enjoys attending classical music events in Philadelphia and playing the oboe. She also enjoys her involvement in the U.S.-Ireland Alliance and in Franco-American affairs.

Proof Points

Commercial Litigation, Arbitration, and International Trade

• Represented a U.S. manufacturer in the final phase of an antidumping and countervailing duty investigation before the U.S. International Trade Commission.
• Represented a U.S. manufacturer in a sunset review of an antidumping order before the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce.
• Representation of institutional investors in a breach of fiduciary duty action against a real estate LLC manager in the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court.
• Representation of a Middle Eastern state in an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration brought by a Singaporean construction company.
• Representation of a U.S. fortune 500 company in defense of a case brought by a French electricity company on a latent defect theory in a French commercial court.

White Collar Criminal Defense, Regulatory Defense, and Cybersecurity

• Representation of the former Chief Financial Officer of the Platinum Partners hedge fund in a multi-defendant criminal securities fraud case that resulted in his full acquittal following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
• Representation of a former Airbus executive in a multi-defendant insider trading case in France in which the court ordered the prosecutor to drop all charges against the defendants following a decision of the French Constitutional Council that key elements of the French insider trading law were unconstitutional.
• Representation of employees of a New York based lending financial institution in a confidential SEC investigation.
• Representation of a broker-dealer in a SEC enforcement litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in which the SEC’s complaint was dismissed.
• Representation of a major company in responding to a cyber incident, including notification of state authorities and customers in compliance with state laws.
• Advising a client on the complex issue of when a cryptocurrency may be considered a security and thus subject to SEC registration requirements.