Overview
(November 2, 2017, Washington, DC) — Steptoe partner Fil Agusti has been named to The National Law Journal’s list of Trailblazers in Litigation. The list was featured in a supplement in the November 1 issue of the legal publication.
Mr. Agusti, who arrived in the United States as a 10-year old Cuban refugee, has practiced law at the firm for more than 35 years. He is a commercial and insolvency litigator with deep experience in complex contractual disputes in a wide variety of contexts for both plaintiffs and defendants.
This past year, he served as counsel to celebrity chef José Andrés and ThinkFoodGroup, a restauranteur that declared Trump entities in default of their duty of good faith and fair dealing, and terminated a lease in the new Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC following then-candidate Donald Trump’s statements about Hispanic immigrants. In April 2017, the high-profile case settled on terms satisfactory to Mr. Andrés.
Mr. Agusti’s other prominent litigations include counsel to Enbridge and Canopy Prospecting in the $150 million alter ego/fraudulent transfer suit brought against Ferrellgas General Partnership in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The district court upheld the client’s position and completely denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss and to strike.
Mr. Agusti also served as counsel for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas in trial of its multibillion-dollar antitrust/unfair business practices action and related lawsuits against the General Electric Company for alleged fraud in its activities in the variable speed wind turbine generator industry in the United States. The cases, in Arkansas, California, and Texas, attracted international media attention. The case settled favorably after the district court completely changed factual findings in favor of Mitsubishi from the result in an earlier trial.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Agusti successfully represented former congresswoman Connie Meek in her discrimination suit against the state of Florida for its distribution of benefits for the elderly.
About Steptoe
Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm widely recognized for vigorous advocacy in complex litigation and arbitration, successful representation of clients before governmental agencies, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions. The firm has more than 500 lawyers and other professionals in offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.