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DC Trial Lawyers name Traci Lee Buschner New President

WASHINGTON, DC:  The DC Trial Lawyers Association (DCTLA), the organization representing plaintiff’s trial lawyers in the DC, Virgina and Maryland metropolitan area, has named Traci Lee Buschner, one of the nation’s leading whistleblower lawyers, as its new President. Ms. Buschner will serve a one year term.

Ms. Buschner (Tbuschner@GBBlegal.com) is the managing partner of Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC (GBBlegal.com),  one of the nation’s leading law firms representing whistleblowers under the Federal False Claims Act, and before the SEC and IRS whistleblower offices. The firm’s lawyers have recovered over $6 billion on behalf of whistleblowers bringing suits on behalf of the United States government and state governments.

In addition to its whistleblower practice, the firm maintains a complex-high impact litigation practice including civil rights cases. Among its successes, the firm secured a consent order requiring the South Carolina prison system to test and treat 22,000 inmates for Hepatitis C.

“We are at a point in our nation’s history where the rule of law and the rights of the voiceless are under siege.” said Ms. Buschner. “I see our role at DCTLA, and my role as president, as protecting the process and substance in our laws that give rights to individual of discrimination, injury and corporate malfeasance.”    Ms. Buschner is a national faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation . She has contributed to a book by NITA, on remote trial advocacy. Amazon.com: Remote Advocacy: A Guide to Survive and Thrive (NITA) eBook : National Institute of Trial Advocacy: Kindle Store. She is co-author of a forthcoming treatise n the False Claims Act.

Ms. Buschner is available for interviews and to comment on current issues. Email her at Tbuschner@GBBlegal.com or phone: 202-800-3001.

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On-Demand CLE: Profiting from Whistleblower, Qui Tam, and False Claim Cases

Over $40 billion has been recovered through whistleblower, Qui Tam, and False Claims Act cases. The demand for attorneys fluent in the latest practices, procedures, and case law has never been greater as the federal government’s whistleblower program has recently issued record setting awards. The average award today in a whistleblower settlement is nearly $450k, while many cases have been settled for well into the seven and eight figure range. At the same time, the latest amendments affecting this practice area have generated a need for counsel to handle related litigation, investigations, and compliance. The Rossdale faculty for the seminar features a national authority on the topic, who will describe successful strategies for the plaintiff’s and defense bar, recent incentive programs, collecting information in a digital age, settlement incentives, post-settlement obligations, and ethical considerations. Registration includes online access to course and reference materials that serve as a helpful guide to the numerous topics and techniques discussed in the program.

Agenda:

Profiting from Whistleblower, Qui Tam, and False Claim Cases CLE:

  1. Obtaining Fees in Whistleblower, Qui Tam, and False Claim Cases
  2. Securing Government Incentives
  3. Handling Compliance & Investigations
  4. Use of “Purloined” Documents and Self-Help Discovery to Prove Retaliation Claims
  5. Increased Focus on “Gag Provisions” in Settlement Agreements
  6. Successfully Litigating False Claim Act Allegations
  7. Unearthing the Fastest Growing Area of Federal Litigation
  8. Cutting-edge Strategies in Whistleblower Cases
  9. Statutory & Decision Update
  10. Techniques in Drafting and Arguing Pleadings
  11. Hot Topics from the Plaintiff’s & Defense Bar

Recorded Question and Answer Session

Biography of Seminar Faculty:

Reuben Guttman is a founding member of Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC. His practice involves complex litigation and class actions. He has represented clients in claims brought under the Federal False Claims Act, securities laws, the Price Anderson Act, Department of Energy statutes and regulations, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and various employment discrimination, labor and environmental statutes. He has also tried and/or litigated claims involving fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, antitrust, business interference and other common law torts. The International Business Times has called Mr. Guttman “one of the world’s most prominent whistleblower attorneys.” He has served as counsel in some of the largest recoveries under the False Claims Act. Mr. Guttman served as lead counsel in a series of cases resulting in the recovery of more than $30 million under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Mr. Guttman is the author and/or editor of numerous articles, book chapters, and technical publications and his commentary has appeared in Market Watch, American Lawyer Media, AOL Government, Accounting Today, and the Jerusalem Post. In addition to his writings, Mr. Guttman has testified before committees of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate on the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). In 1992, he advised President-elect Clinton’s transition team on labor policy and worker health and safety regulation. Mr. Guttman earned his law degree at Emory University School of Law, where he has been appointed as a Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the Emory University School of Law Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution and has been a Team Leader for the school’s Trial Techniques Program.

To register or to learn more visit Profiting from Whistleblower, Qui Tam, and False Claim Cases CLE — 24/7 On-demand Recording and Complimentary Podcast – The Rossdale Group, LLC – A National Leader in Attorney Education (mcssl.com)

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Overlapping Surgery and Medical Malpractice

In recent years, whistleblowers have unlocked some of the secrets of the nation’s operating rooms. Lawsuits against major teaching hospitals have exposed the practice of overlapping surgery with surgeons double- or triple-booking procedures to a degree that calls into question their ability to provide proper care for the individual patient. In fact, procedures for many patients are placed in the hands of less skilled residents and fellows.

Attorneys Reuben Guttman and Joseph Lanni, discuss these practices in their article for the Emory Law Scholarly Commons at Emory Law School. Read the full article here,

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On-Demand CLE – Campus Civil Rights: The Tension Between The First Amendment And Hostile Environment Proscriptions

About This Course:

Free expression or the exchange of ideas has been a hallmark of American education. Yet, whether protection of free expression is obligated by the Constitution is a more complicated question and the answer may vary from public to private institution or programs within each institution. But even where the Constitution does apply, speech is not absolute. Universities are workplaces, places of public accommodation, healthcare providers and learning centers. A myriad of laws regulate speech in these settings. This CLE session will dive into the timely question of how we balance notions of free expression with constitutional and statutory constraints that may or may not apply.

To learn more or purchase this seminar, visit NACLE | Campus Civil Rights: The Tension Between The First Amendment and Hostile Environment Proscriptions.

Lecturer Bio:

Reuben A. Guttman, Esq.

Reuben Guttman is a founding member of Guttman, Buschner and Brooks PLLC. Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC (gbblegal.com) His practice involves civil rights, whistleblower representation, class actions and complex litigation. He has been counsel in False Claims Act cases that have returned over $6 Billion to the government.

The International Business Times has referred to him as “one of the world’s most prominent whistleblower attorneys.” He has been an adjunct professor at Emory Law School and a Senior Fellow in the school’s Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution; he is currently a faculty member of the American University School of Public Affairs and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.

He has taught advocacy in the United States, Mexico and China. He is also a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Mr. Guttman has published over 100 articles, opinion pieces, or book chapters. He is co-author with Rutgers Law Professor JC Lore of the text Pretrial Advocacy (National Institute for Trial Advocacy/Wolters Kluwer (2021). He is a founder of the website WhistleblowerLaws | The Source for Whistleblowers, Journalists, Legislators & Academics.

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What the sale of US Steel augurs for the American steel industry

The biggest steel story of the decade broke over a lazy summer Sunday in August 2023 – US Steel, the legacy steel producer that was synonymous with American steelmaking for decades, announced it had received “multiple unsolicited proposals” for the acquisition of its assets, and that the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker had started a “strategic review” of its options

January 8, 2024

By the Fastmarkets team, Rijuta Dey Bera, and Alesha Alkaff

The saga ended on December 18, with Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) emerging as the successful suitor for US Steel, acquiring the iconic steelmaker in an all-cash buy of $14.1 billion, plus the assumption of $800 million in debt. 

The steep premium that Nippon Steel has paid for the 123-year-old company raised many eyebrows, but it underlines the faith foreign investors have in steel demand that is expected to be generated from government legislation, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act).

Nippon Steel’s investment is an example of attracting foreign investment that will rejuvenate American manufacturing, instead of offshoring it, some market participants noted.

For example, Fitch Ratings has placed US Steel’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR), senior unsecured and secured ratings on “Rating Watch Positive,” reflecting the “meaningful increase in size and earnings of the combined entity following the expected close of the acquisition of US Steel by Nippon Steel Corporation.”

“NSC’s annual steel capacity of roughly 73 million tons represents more than triple US Steel’s annual capacity of roughly 23 million tons pro forma, [with] Big River 2 coming online in 2024 and the indefinite idling of Granite City Works,” Fitch Ratings said in a report on December 21.

The Nippon-US Steel deal could birth one of the world’s largest steel companies outside of China and may result in increased competition in the global steel market, Miriam Falk, senior steel analyst at Fastmarkets, said. 

However, politicians from both sides of the aisle have expressed outrage at the thought of an all-American corporation being sold off to foreign interests, and even the Biden administration has pledged “serious scrutiny” of the tentative $14.9 billion takeover, according to a statement released on December 21 by National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard.

US Steel said in a statement sent to Fastmarkets on December 22 that it notified the administration on the day the acquisition was announced that it would voluntarily file for review. 

“Japan is an important ally to the United States, and NSC currently operates multiple steel facilities across the USA,” the statement said. “NSC is a respected and trusted company that has made substantial commitments to support US Steel’s United Steelworkers-represented employees and non-represented employees, communities and customers. This will strengthen the American steel industry, American jobs, America’s national security and America’s supply chain security.”

Reuben Guttman, partner at Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC told Fastmarkets that the backlash was expected.

“Remember that US Steel is synonymous with American manufacturing,” Guttman said. “It was formed…when JP Morgan merged Carnegie Steel with Federal and National Steel. So, in a sense, the optics are selling the child of Andrew Carnegie to a foreign company. It’s not just a deal; there is emotion attached to it.”

Other market participants, however, view the takeover as just a change in ownership.

“For as big of a transaction as this was, it could not be more ‘blah’ in my opinion,” a distributor said. “There is no consolidation, and most people, including my thoughts, are that Nippon will not make any major changes.  So, it is just business as usual.”

Consolidation in the American steel industry

Consolidation in the steel industry is likely to ramp up in the near term, while integrated mills increase efficiency and technologically advance, allowing for higher productivity and capital to acquire more companies, Samir Kapadia, managing principal and head of trade at The Vogel Group, a bipartisan government affairs and consulting firm based in Washington DC, told Fastmarkets.

“That’s certainly going to be [more consolidation] in the near-to-mid-future because of the investments going into the industry,” Kapadia said. “Once those investments convert to productive operations, you’ll see more dry powder and impetus from steelmakers to acquire more market share.” 

Now, after this historical sale, the US is down to just three American-owned major steelmakers: Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, and Steel Dynamics, Inc. 

Consolidation and antitrust

The idea of consolidation raises questions about antitrust, which is concerned with monopolization and concerted activity that substantially affects competition, according to international trade organization the World Steel Association. 

Reuben Guttman told Fastmarkets that the deal “absolutely could raise antitrust concerns.”

“The optics of a foreign entity controlling domestic production raises major political red flags. There is great incentive to tug at any thread that can block this deal,” Guttman said.

The Nippon-US Steel acquisition is expected to make the domestic steel market more competitive, and the deal should not raise the same potential antitrust regulatory flags as if US Steel was acquired by another domestic producer, Christopher Macchiaroli, partner at Silverman Thompson, told Fastmarkets.

“While certain members of Congress from steel producing areas may raise concerns and inquire as to the status of antitrust review by relevant government agencies, I do not believe that will get much traction in the long run,” Macchiaroli said.

Before the Nippon Steel announcement, rival domestic producer Cleveland-Cliffs was believed to the frontrunner in the race to acquire US Steel; had that deal gone through, it would evoke scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, sources had previously told Fastmarkets.

Impact on steel pricing 

When Cleveland-Cliffs revealed that it was vying for US Steel in August, several market participants said that it would lead to increased prices across multiple steel markets. 

In November, an automotive industry group lodged its opposition to Cleveland-Cliffs acquiring US Steel, citing increased costs and an overall negative impact on the US auto market.

The detractors expressed concerns that the Cleveland-Cliffs-US Steel merger would concentrate 100% of the country’s integrated steel production under one entity, which could result in consolidation of both operations and jobs, as well as putting the ownership of nearly all US iron ore mining and processing facilities into one company’s hands.

Some steel sources correlate steep and frequent mill hikes with the fact that there are only a handful of major domestic producers in the US.

“Before, even when mills would push through price hikes, it would be in the range of $20-40 per ton at one go,” a second distributor said. 

Between October and December, domestic steelmakers pushed through multiple $100-per-ton price hikes, starting with setting the hot-rolled coil base price at $800 per short ton ($40 per cwt) on October 19 and taking it all the way to $1,100 per ton on December 6.

Consolidation’s impact on steel pricing hinges on multiple factors, including the “strategies and pricing policies adopted by the merged entity, evolving supply and demand dynamics, and global economic conditions,” according to Falk. 

Increased competitiveness could either stabilize prices through improved supply chain management or lead to more assertive pricing strategies and innovative product offerings, which would impact other domestic steel producers, Falk said.

Kapadia also stressed that steel prices are impacted by a multitude of market conditions, and not solely market consolidation. 

“Any market consolidation will increase bargaining power for the mills, which might play a role into increased prices,” Kapadia said.

This could be seen in the change in pricing environment when Cleveland-Cliffs itself went from being a raw materials supplier to being the largest flat-rolled steelmaker in the US after it purchased AK Steel for 1.1 billion and ArcelorMittal USA and its subsidiaries for around $1.4 billion, both in 2020.

These deals came about during a period when steel prices had plunged globally while the Covid-19 pandemic spread, oil prices collapsed and North American automakers halted production. 

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest had fallen to a low of $21.89 per cwt ($437.80 per short ton) on April 30, 2020, the lowest point in more than four years, since they were assessed at $21.50 per cwt in late March 2016.

Soon after, hot-rolled coil prices started rising dramatically due to steel shortages, setting new records every week, and ultimately reaching $98.25 per cwt on September 20 and September 27 in 2021, the highest level since Fastmarkets began pricing this market in 1960.

Navigate the complex steel markets with our reliable and market-reflective steel price data and transparent pricing methodology. Learn more.

Source: https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/what-the-sale-of-us-steel-augurs-for-the-american-steel-industry/