Wiley Rein Named ‘International Trade Group of the Year’ by Law360 for Ninth Consecutive Year

February 11, 2019

Washington, DC — Wiley Rein LLP has been named an “International Trade Group of the Year” by Law360 for the ninth year in a row, the only firm nationwide to achieve this honor. According to Law360, Wiley Rein represented the nation’s largest steel and aluminum producers as part of the Trump Administration’s investigations into national security concerns with imports, which helped the firm earn a spot on this highly competitive list.

“We not only handle conventional cases for an industry – we think strategically about how to solve their long-term, competitive concerns,” International Trade Practice chair Alan H. Price told Law360. “We represent domestic industries trying to seek and preserve jobs in the United States, and our goal is to assure that domestic manufacturing not only survives, but thrives and grows and innovates.”

As noted in the article, the team is one of the largest international trade practices in Washington and has grown consistently over the past decade. “Interest in trade is growing across the board, dominating headlines for this Administration, and we’re trying to make sure that the group grows steadily along with it,” said International Trade partner Timothy C. Brightbill.

Wiley Rein was cited for its key role advocating for comprehensive relief for the steel and aluminum industries, “putting them on a path to recovery” after the Administration imposed 25% tariffs on steel imports and 10% tariffs on aluminum imports in March 2018. The firm represented Nucor Corp. – the largest domestic steel producer and a longtime client – and Century Aluminum in the Administration’s investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, ultimately securing a significant recovery of lost production, sales, employment, and wages.

“The key to success is to understand the avenues that are available with a particular Administration,” said Mr. Price. “We are very capable of reading the political tea leaves and understand what can succeed given the environment we’re dealing with.”

In addition to securing victories for the steel industry last year, Wiley Rein also successfully argued on behalf of SolarWorld Americas Inc. before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC found, on a unanimous and bipartisan basis, that the U.S. solar manufacturing industry was seriously injured due to solar cell and module imports from China and Taiwan. According to Law360, the landmark case led the Administration to impose sanctions, including a four-year tariff on modules and, on cells, a tariff-rate quota, such that duties for cells would increase substantially once an import quota is met.

“We were basically bringing a case against the world,” said Mr. Brightbill. “It was a success not just because of the litigation at the commission but also working with the Administration on what will help this industry to grow so that solar panels will be made here rather than in China or somewhere else around the world.”

Wiley Rein’s International Trade Team was selected by a panel of Law360 editors, “with an eye toward landmark matters and general excellence.” In the practice group awards program’s ninth year, 84 law firms were recognized across 38 practice areas, and culled from 759 submissions.

To read the Law360 story, please click here (subscription required).