Former U.S. Steel Corp. GC James Garraux joins Fox Rothschild in Pittsburgh

James D. Garraux, who spent 34 years of his legal career as general counsel

for United States Steel Corp., has joined the law firm of Fox Rothschild, the firm announced this week.

Garraux will be working as counsel in Fox Rothschild’s Pittsburgh office.

For more than three decades, Garraux worked at U.S. Steel, one of the world’s largest producers of steel, moving up from director of labor arbitration to general manager and vice president of labor and employee relations  and eventually to general counsel and senior vice president of corporate affairs.

He retired from that job in late 2013.

Garraux served as the chief labor negotiator for U.S. Steel during bargaining for the last three national master labor contracts, including the watershed 2003 agreement that enabled the company to purchase the assets of National Steel Corp. out of bankruptcy, according to Fox Rothschild.

As general counsel, Garraux led a team of 50 in-house attorneys and various outside lawyers in everything from litigation, international trade, labor and employment issues to corporate and commercial matters, acquisitions and divestitures and environmental law issues, according to the law firm.

During Garraux’s time at U.S. Steel, the company completed the acquisitions of Lone Star Technologies of Dallas, TX, and Stelco Inc. of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Garraux and his team of lawyers also prevailed in various significant labor and employment litigation matters.

“Jim possesses a truly practical and comprehensive understanding of complex corporate management issues and operations,” Mark L. Silow, the firm-wide managing partner of Fox Rothschild, said in a statement. “His knowledge and experience will undoubtedly provide tremendous benefit to clients, particularly given his first-hand insight with the complex labor and employment matters that challenge today’s employers.”

Bill Stang, managing partner of the firm’s Pittsburgh office, called Garraux’s addition a “very exciting opportunity for Fox Rothschild and our clients.

“We’re thrilled to welcome him to our team in Pittsburgh,” Stang said in a statement.

Garraux, who obtained his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, is fairly active in his home community of Pittsburgh.

He serves as chairman of the board for the southwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Red Cross, and he is involved with various legal professional associations, including the Association of General Counsel, the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Allegheny County Bar Association.