Michele M. Silva
Of Counsel
- [email protected]
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- Tel: (212) 557-4000
- Direct: (212) 973-7792
- Fax: (212) 557-4415
Michele M. Silva is of counsel in GDLSK’s New York office. Before joining the firm, she spent nearly a decade in the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where she served as a principal advisor on a wide range of import-related disputes. Most recently, Michele was detailed as an attorney-advisor to the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In that role, she developed recommendations for entity list additions under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and advised the DHS Trade Policy Division on trade enforcement strategy, policy development, and regulatory compliance matters with cross-agency implications.
While in government service, Michele oversaw all trade-related matters in CBP’s Northeast region—a role that spanned the New York, Baltimore, and Boston regional counsel offices. Her tenure at the agency gives her deep insight into the government’s approach to issues including customs penalty actions, collection actions, and customs fraud actions. She has particularly deep experience in the healthcare sector, having served as the primary legal advisor to the CPB Pharmaceuticals, Health & Chemicals Center of Excellence and Expertise on import-related issues. She also has experience with CBP’s seizure and forfeiture process, working closely with U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Additionally, she worked on legal issues involving bonded warehouses and foreign trade zones.
Michele’s past cases include CBP’s first forced labor penalty, as well as significant False Claims Act settlements and customs penalties against importers for illegal transshipment, mislabeling, evasion of Section 301 duties, misclassification and emissions defeating devices.
Before concentrating on international trade litigation at CBP, Michele served as a law clerk to Judge Thomas F. Scully of the Monmouth County Superior Court and spent five years as an assistant deputy public defender in New Jersey. She earned her J.D. cum laude from New York Law School and her B.A. magna cum laude in political science from Rutgers University.
New York Law School, J.D. (2011)
Rutgers University, B.A. (2008)
New York (2012)
New Jersey (2011)
Customs and International Trade Bar Association
New York State Bar Membership
New Jersey State Bar Membership