U.S. Steel wins unanimous defense verdict in breach-of-contract action brought by buyer and reseller of coking coal

Client(s) United States Steel Corporation

After more than five years of litigation and a week-long jury trial that ended on January 16, 2015, Jones Day client United States Steel Corporation received a unanimous defense verdict in a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought against it by a buyer and reseller of coking coal. The case arose out of events at the onset of the Great Recession and the broker's efforts to prove a contract with U. S. Steel to purchase some $93.6 MM of coking coal and to recover lost profits thereon. Through motion practice, U. S. Steel defeated the co-defendant broker's efforts to pursue promissory estoppel, fraud, and other cross-claims. The breach-of-contract claim was presented to the twelve-member jury after a week's worth of testimony and rejected the afternoon it was received.

PBS Coals, Inc. v. Xcoal Energy Resources and United States Steel Corporation, No. 818 Civil 2009 (Common Pleas Court, Somerset Cty., Pa.)