Verified profile

Timothy C. Brightbill

Partner | Co-Chair at Wiley Rein LLP ; Adjunct Professor.

Timothy C. Brightbill's profile photo
LocationWashingtonDistrict of Columbia, United States
Current roleFaculty MemberGeorgetown Law Global Trade Academy · since Jan 2006
Government service1yrU.S. Trade Representative

About

Tim is one of the nation’s leading international trade law and policy attorneys, representing U.S. industries and companies on all aspects of import trade remedies (such as antidumping (AD) law and countervailing duty (CVD) law), tariffs, global trade policy and trade negotiations, renewable energy, digital trade, international telecommunications, and customs enforcement matters. He has taught international trade law as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center for more than 20 years. 

Tim has been consistently rated as highly regarded among the nation’s leading lawyers for international trade by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 for more than a decade. Clients told Chambers USA he is “an expert on trade litigation” (2023), has “an encyclopedic understanding of the trade issues affecting our company” (2020), and “a penetrating intelligence and deep knowledge of dense trade issues" (2017). He is one of a small number of “Global Elite Thought Leaders" in North America as chosen by the International Who's Who of Trade & Customs Lawyers.

Roles

Jan 2006–Present
Current role

Faculty Member

Georgetown Law Global Trade Academy

Washington, District of Columbia

Professor

Faculty Member, Georgetown Law Global Trade Academy (previously the Academy of WTO Law and Policy) (2006-Present)


Jan 2002–Present
Current role

Adjunct Professor

Georgetwn University Law Center

Washington, District of Columbia

Professor

Adjunct Professor, International Trade Law and Regulation, Georgetown University Law Center

Jan 1996–Present
Current role

Vice-Chair (2013-Present) and Member (2007-Present), Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Services and Finance Industries

Wiley Rein LLP

Washington, District of Columbia

Strategy & TransactionsSupply Chain AnalystCivil LitigationTechnologyInternational Trade LawMedia and CommunicationEnvironmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

Partner and Co-Chair, International Trade practice. Expertise in trade litigation (antidumping, countervailing duty, safeguards), trade policy and negotiations, WTO litigation and negotiations, free trade agreements, export matters, digital trade, international telecom law, information and communications technology (ICT) law, customs law, climate change and other areas of international trade. Current client industries include steel and steel products, solar cells and modules, renewable energy, paper products, scrap and raw materials, hand tools, and others. Chair of Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Services (ITAC 10), serving as private sector adviser to Administration on trade policy and negotiations, including WTO, TPP, TISA and TTIP negotiations.

Jan 1994–Jan 1995
Former role

Legislative and Legal Counsel

U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Representative John J. LaFalce, Chair of the House Committee on Small Business

(appointed)District of Columbia

Legislative Affairs

Legislative and Legal Counsel, U.S. Representative John J. LaFalce, Chair of the House Committee on Small Business (1994-1995)

Representative matters

Experience

May 2025

Lead counsel to domestic solar manufacturers, who in 2018 won the first global safeguards case filed in the United States in more than 15 years. In 2012, won the largest U.S. trade remedy cases ever filed against China and the first cases involving renewable energy products, and also won follow-up cases against China and Taiwan in 2015. Lead counsel to the Coalition of American Manufacturers of Mobile Access Equipment, the Coalition of American Millwork Producers, the American Line Pipe Producers Association, the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood, the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing, the American Manufacturers of Multilayered Hardwood Flooring, and the Association of American School Paper Suppliers. Represents numerous U.S. industries in trade litigation, tariff, and trade policy matters, including solar cells and panels, mobile access equipment, wood mouldings, wooden cabinets and vanities, steel and steel products, hardwood plywood, large diameter line and structural pipe, multilayered wood flooring, lined paper school supplies, heavy forged hand tools, and steel scrap. Represents numerous clients before the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), and in more than 70 oral arguments at the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Represents numerous clients in matters involving Section 232 national security investigations. Regularly advises and represents clients before Congress and the Executive Branch on potential changes to U.S. trade laws, trade remedies, and trade negotiations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), U.S. Free Trade Agreements (FTA), and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT). Serves as vice-chair of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Services and Finance Industries and advises service industries and provides the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. government with industry advice on WTO, FTA, and BIT negotiations with major U.S. trading partners. Represented U.S. industry coalition supporting the USTR in three successful WTO cases challenging China's raw material and rare earth export restrictions. Edited "Trade Remedies for Global Companies," an American Bar Association book on the U.S. and foreign trade remedies.

Recognition

Honors

"Leading Lawyer"

The Legal 500 US

January 2022

Named by The Legal 500 US as a "Leading Lawyer" (2021-2022) and recognized in the "Hall of Fame" (2023) in International Trade

“Global Elite Thought Leaders"

International Who's Who of Trade & Customs Lawyers

January 2022

Listed by Chambers Global as one of the "Leaders in Their Field" for his work in Trade Remedies & Trade Policy (2012-2023)

International Trade MVP

Law360

May 2025

Named by Law360 as an International Trade MVP (2014, 2017, 2021)

America's Leading Lawyers for Business

Chambers USA

January 2011

Listed by Chambers USA as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in International Trade: Trade Remedies & Trade Policy (2012-2024) and "America's Leading Lawyers for Business - Up and Coming" (2010-2011)

Guide to the World's Leading International Trade and Shipping Lawyers

Legal Media Group's Expert Guides

May 2025

Included in Legal Media Group's Expert Guides: Guide to the World's Leading International Trade and Shipping Lawyers (2008-Present)

International Who's Who of Trade & Customs Lawyers

May 2025

Included in the International Who's Who of Trade & Customs Lawyers (2010-2012, 2015-2016, 2021)

Publications & speeches

The Treatment of China as a Non-Market Economy Country After 2016

Wiley Rein

May 2025

Link

Commerce Seeks Comment in New Section 232 Investigations Covering Imports of Commercial Aircraft and Jet Engines and their Parts

wiley.law

May 2025

Link

Commerce Initiates New Section 232s on Critical Minerals and Medium/Heavy Trucks

Wiley.com

May 2025

Link

Commerce Initiates New Section 232s on Critical Minerals and Medium/Heavy Trucks

Wiley.law

April 2025

Link

2025 Key Trade Developments | Tariffs

April 2025

Podcast

Link