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T. Steven Har

T. Steven Har

Partner
About

Steve Har litigates matters concerning complex business issues, intellectual property and product liability, including jury and non-jury trials in federal and state courts throughout the United States.

Steve engages in international arbitration and litigation, representing both foreign and domestic companies in various forums. He also represents financial institutions in disputes with governmental entities. Steve has served as lead counsel in complex commercial litigation, patent, trademark and copyright disputes, and product liability defense. He has also represented multinational companies in a number of jury trials, including as lead trial counsel.

Steve has litigated matters arising in international commercial disputes, including issues of personal and subject matter jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, international comity, foreign sovereign immunity, enforcement of foreign judgments and actions to compel arbitration and enforce arbitral awards. He has served as counsel in arbitrations before the International Chamber of Commerce, the American Arbitration Association and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. A member of the Litigation Section and the International Litigation Subcommittee of the American Bar Association, Steven is fluent in Korean.

Bar admissionsNew York
CourtsUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

EXPERIENCE

Steve serves as global counsel for a large Asian bank with branches throughout the world relating to investigations and litigation, as national coordinating counsel for a multinational tire manufacturer and as national trial counsel for an automotive distributor.

Representative Matters
  • Serves as global counsel for a large Asian bank with branches and subsidiaries throughout the world
  • Serves as national counsel for a multinational tire manufacturer in product liability litigation
  • Serves as national trial counsel for an automotive distributor in product liability and indemnity litigation
  • Represents a multinational financial institution in a dispute with the US government regarding its seizure of funds in a forfeiture action
  • Obtained a verdict following an eight-day jury trial in favor of a former corporate subsidiary of a motor vehicle manufacturer on its action seeking indemnity for an underlying product liability action pursuant to the parties' indemnity agreement. Under the verdict, the manufacturer is obligated to reimburse the subsidiary for all legal fees and costs arising out a product liability suit, including all legal expenses incurred in enforcing the indemnity agreement
  • Obtained order from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York granting a motion for summary judgment in favor of an appliance manufacturer in an action alleging that it infringed a competitor's trademarks
  • Defended a multinational company in a patent-infringement action brought in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey alleging that it infringed a patent regarding a fax machine. The case was dismissed following discovery
  • Obtained a US$36 million judgment in the Supreme Court of New York in favor of a trustee of a creditor's committee in a breach of contract action against a multinational manufacturer
  • Obtained a summary judgment order in favor of a trade-magazine publisher in a defamation action brought in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York by a US distributor of a European commercial dry-cleaning machine
  • Obtained an appellate decision in favor of a US trading company from the Supreme Court of New York, First Department, allowing it to proceed with its multimillion-dollar breach-of-contract action against an Asian manufacturer
  • Won a multimillion-dollar judgment for a client through summary judgment motion in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • Represented a foreign bank in an action brought in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that sought a preliminary injunction and restraining order precluding investors from seizing funds
  • Defended a Japanese automobile company in a product liability action brought in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. After a three-week trial, the jury returned a defense verdict, finding the company not liable
  • Defended a foreign-manufacturer debtor in an adversarial proceeding brought against it by its US distributor in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The US$18 million breach-of-warranty claim against the debtor was dismissed on summary judgment
  • Obtained an order dismissing for lack of personal jurisdiction a breach-of-contract, tortious interference and slander/libel action brought against a large European chemical company in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • Defended an international trading company in an eight-figure breach-of-contract action in the Supreme Court of New York. The case settled for a five-figure sum on the eve of trial
Languages
  • Korean
Education
  • J.D., University of Utah College of Law 1989
  • B.A., University of Minnesota
  • B.A., Columbia University

Awards

  • Recommended in The Legal 500 United States
  • Listed in Avenue magazine's Legal Elite, 2010
  • Marquis' Who's Who in American Law
  • AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Clerk Experience

  • The Honorable David Sam, United States District Court of the District of Utah

Teaching

  • Adjunct Professor, Korea University Law School (March 2014 to Present)

Memberships And Affiliations

  • American Bar Association, Section of Litigation; International Litigation Subcommittee
  • New York State Bar Association, Section of Commercial and Federal Litigation

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