Steve Raber focuses on trial work and civil litigation. He has tried cases before juries and judges in commercial and tort cases, appeared before state regulatory agencies and arbitration panels, and argued appeals in state and federal courts. Chambers USA recognizes him as a "terrific trial lawyer."

His experience includes:

Mr. Raber has served as trial counsel for Merck & Co., Inc. in the Vioxx litigation since 2004. His team won the first defense verdict in Humeston v. Merck, a case featured in The National Law Journal as one of its "Top Defense Wins of 2005." Mr. Raber tried two additional Vioxx cases in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2006. The court declared a mistrial after the jury was deadlocked 7-5 in Merck’s favor. Most recently, in April 2010, Mr. Raber won dismissal of another Vioxx case on the first day of trial in Phoenix, Arizona.

After a jury trial in Baldwin County, Alabama in 2006, Mr. Raber and local counsel obtained a defense judgment for a chemical manufacturing company against five landowners who alleged that their groundwater had been contaminated by the company. Plaintiffs had sought damages and remediation costs in excess of $100 million. The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed the defense judgment in May 2010.

In October 2003, Mr. Raber won a trial against a plaintiff who claimed the right to own a 50-acre portion of the Stafford Marketplace development in Stafford County, Virginia. Garrett Dev. Corp. v. Staffordborough-Reston LLC, Chancery No. 00-591 (Cir. Ct. Stafford County). This victory cleared the way for Mr. Raber's client to develop a 780,000 sq. ft. shopping center and residential project.

In March 2000, Mr. Raber and his partners obtained a $19.85 million jury verdict in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of a corporate client in a commercial fraud case.

In 1995, Mr. Raber represented an FBI agent who was fired in retaliation for helping his fellow Hispanic agents win a class action lawsuit against the FBI for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Mata v. FBI, 71 F.3d 513 (5th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 1877 (1996).

In 1988, Mr. Raber and one of his partners won an $11 million jury verdict in District of Columbia v. Howell, 607 A.2d 501 (D.C. 1992).

Mr. Raber joined the firm in 1985 and has been a partner since 1994. He served on the firm's hiring committee and supervised the summer associate program from 1994 to 2002. He is a member of The Barristers and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.