Matthew Nicely Named an Am Law “South Trailblazer”

(Washington, D.C.) – Akin Gump is pleased to share that international trade partner Matthew Nicely has been named a South Trailblazer by The American Lawyer. The contest, now in its second year, recognizes professionals in the South “who have moved the needle in the legal industry,” with “South” encompassing states from Delaware to Florida, Kentucky to Texas.

In the profile published for the occasion, Mr. Nicely, whose practice focuses on representing clients in trade remedy litigation covered by antidumping, countervailing duty, safeguard and other laws affecting imports of goods, discusses what makes him a trailblazer. Following are excerpts:

• “During the last several years, the executive branch of the U.S. government has undertaken an aggressive approach to restricting U.S. imports, and in doing so has adopted policies that my colleagues and I believe exceed the authority granted by the Congress to the executive branch or violate the Administrative Procedures Act.”
• “While some of our lawsuits are still pending, they have already broken new ground…[O]ur lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s Section 301 duties on most imports from China was followed by over 4,000 additional suits…each of which copied our complaint. This is by far the biggest piece of litigation the U.S. Court of International Trade has ever seen…”
• “Ideally, these lawsuits will ensure the executive branch is more careful in the future when adopting trade policies that impose increased duties or otherwise restrict U.S. imports.”