Wiley’s Derick Holt Profiled by Law360 as 2020 ‘Rising Star’

August 6, 2020

Washington, DC – Derick G. Holt, of counsel in Wiley’s International Trade Practice, was profiled by Law360 as a 2020 “Rising Star” in International Trade. Mr. Holt was one of the top four lawyers in his practice area on this prestigious national list of attorneys under 40 “whose legal accomplishments transcend their age.”

Mr. Holt secured a well-earned spot on the list after successfully representing domestic steel manufacturers in countervailing duty and anti-dumping investigations to secure trade remedies against foreign competitors. A victory was handed to the firm’s clients when the International Trade Commission (ITC) determined in July that the duties should remain in effect to protect U.S. producers from steel wire rod being dumped from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, and Trinidad and Tobago.

In what was noted by Law360 as his biggest case so far, Mr. Holt was part of a Wiley team that represented the American Glass Packaging Coalition in countervailing duty and anti-dumping investigations by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the ITC over Chinese glass container imports. The team succeeded in making the case that Chinese glass producers had gained unfair market share because of subsidies from the Chinese government—and final duties were set; however, the ITC ruled later that domestic producers were not being hurt by the imports, and stopped the duties from taking effect.

The most challenging part of the case was educating the Commerce Department and the ITC about the inner workings of the glass industry, Mr. Holt told Law360. Laying the groundwork by providing extensive research was needed, he noted, because the agencies had only investigated one other case involving glass prior to the glass container probe.

When asked why he is an international trade attorney, Mr. Holt pointed to his visits at U.S. manufacturing and production plants and interactions with workers whose jobs are being protected by the cases that he works on.

“In BigLaw, sometimes you have to choose a side,” he said. “I feel like I am choosing the right side.”

Mr. Holt also commented on the dynamic nature of international trade law today. “You can't open a newspaper without seeing something about international trade, and it is great to be one of those people working on those issues,” Mr. Holt said.

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