Steve Busch has spent more than four decades defending large companies in complex litigation throughout the U.S. He has served as national counsel for several public and private companies handling environmental, toxic tort, and other product-related litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country. He also is well-recognized for his representation of businesses in the alcoholic beverage industry, handling regulatory issues, litigation, and business transactions.
Steve has a long record of leadership in the legal profession, civic organizations, and our law firm. This has included serving as president of The Virginia Bar Association, the Virginia Law Foundation, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, and as a former member of our firm’s Executive Committee and as a chair of our mass tort and environmental litigation practice. He also has served on numerous civic and professional boards.
Steve has received recognition from his peers and clients though his inclusion over the years in Chambers USA, Legal 500 United States, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and other publications. The Supreme Court of Virginia appointed Steve to serve a three-year term on the faculty of the Virginia State Bar’s Professionalism Course ending in 2019. More recently, Steve accepted an appointment to serve on VSB’s Professionalism Course for Law Students. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Association and the Virginia Law Foundation.
Experience
- Lead counsel for a multinational corporation that is a non-party relative to mass tort litigation pending in the U.K. with over 10,000 claimants.
- As lead counsel defended more than 150 cases in MDL litigation for a medical imaging company in one of the most serious pharmaceutical disasters in U.S. history related to contaminated epidural steroid injections causing meningitis-related deaths and other serious medical conditions.
- As lead counsel defended a tobacco merchant in mass tort cases filed in Delaware state court with more than 400 plaintiffs, including 153 children alleging birth defects from exposure to herbicides and pesticides used in the cultivation of tobacco in Argentina.
- National products liability counsel defending litigation for the largest manufacturer of polyurethane foam in the U.S.
- Served as national counsel for one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world for more than 25 years defending premises and products liability cases throughout the U.S.
- Served as lead counsel for a public utility company defending asbestos-related premises liability claims in Illinois and Indiana.
- As lead counsel defended claims filed by ninety-nine coal miners in West Virginia state court against product manufacturer alleging health problems related to isocyanate exposure.
- Lead counsel in various appellate decisions in Virginia, and trials before the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Authority involving wine and beer franchise litigation.
- University of Richmond School of LawJD1980
- University of VirginiaBA1977
President, 2010; Board of Governors, Chair, 2008; Chair, Civil Litigation Section, 2003; Chair, Young Lawyers Section, 1990, Virginia Bar Association
President, 2018; Board of Directors, 2011-2019, The Virginia Law Foundation
Faculty, Carrico Professionalism Course, 2016-2019; Faculty, Professionalism Course for Law Students, 2022-present, Virginia State Bar
Board of Directors, Legal Services Corporation of Virginia, 2011-2013
Member, Boyd-Graves Conference, 2005-present
President, 2001-2002; Board of Trustees, 1998-2007, United States Law Firm Group, Inc.
Chairman, Board of Directors, 2000; Board of Directors, 1993-2008, Delta Waterfowl Foundation
Member, Board of Governors, 2004-2010, St. Christopher’s School, Richmond, Virginia
Troop Committee Member, Boy Scout Troop 444, 2003-2007
Member; Standing Committee on Lawyers Public Service Responsibility, 1986-1989, American Bar Association
- Speaker, Presenter at more than thirty-five continuing legal education programs involving a wide variety of environmental, toxic tort and product liability litigation topics since 1985
- Virginia
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
Named “Lawyer of the Year,” Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Richmond, The Best Lawyers, 2021, 2024
Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants, 2005-2024; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, 2019-2024; Woodward/White, Inc.
Selected for inclusion in “Legal 500 United States,” Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Actions – Automotive/Transport – Defense; Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action – Consumer Products – Defense; Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Actions – Toxic Tort – Defense, 2016-2023
Selected for inclusion in America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Litigation: Products Liability & Toxic Torts, Virginia, Chambers USA, 2014-2023
Named to “Virginia Super Lawyers,” Civil Litigation Defense, Class Action/Mass Torts, Administrative Law, Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2008-2022; Named to Virginia Top 100, 2020
Named a “Local Litigation Star,” Virginia, Benchmark Litigation, 2013, 2016, 2018
Named to Virginia’s “Legal Elite,” Civil Litigation, Virginia Business, 2013-2015
Fellow, American Bar Foundation, 2013
Fellow, Virginia Law Foundation, 2012
AV Preeminent Rated, Martindale-Hubbell, 1995-2023