They Want To Be Your Overseas Reps

Catlett Yancey & Stodala PLC, the Little Rock law firm with offices in Moscow, Russia, recently approached several Northwest Arkansas companies about representing them in international markets. The poultry industry is apparently one of the segments being targeted by the 23-year-old firm.

Among the companies represented by the firm is Quality Products International, a wholesale distributor of further-processed foods and the only American-owned food distribution company in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. Firm partner S. Graham Catlett founded QPI in 1991.

In Moscow, QPI is already the exclusive distributor to supermarkets, hotels and restaurants for more than a dozen companies, including Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale, ConAgra Inc., Sara Lee and Schwan’s.

But Catlett Yancey & Stodala specializes in commercial litigation and is well versed in many different industries besides food. It offers due diligence and counseling for international transactions, including market entry and trade leads. The firm’s goal is to help companies venture into, and succeed in, foreign markets.

Fueling the firm’s Northwest Arkansas push is the July 27 hiring of longtime political insider John R. Yates, a Prairie Grove native and University of Arkansas graduate. In his second term as chairman of the International Law Committee of the American Bar Association, Yates is fluent in Spanish and studied international law in Madrid, Spain.

“We just want to let Arkansas companies know that we have experience in international business formations and transactions,” Yates said. “So when they need assistance they can consult a firm in Arkansas rather rather than seeking someone out of state.”

The firm has represented Southwestern Bell Wireless and the Motion Picture Association of America in international business, as well as the Hermitage Tomato Cooperative Association, Rally’s of Central Arkansas and numerous other Arkansas firms. Catlett personally does business weekly in 13 different countries, while partner Lawrence Yancy has done business from South Africa to Azerbaijan.