Bill Russell is a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in the Firm’s Litigation Department. He represents clients in a wide variety of commercial disputes including banking litigation, bankruptcy and reorganization matters, securities litigation, and contractual and transactional disputes, and has tried cases in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitral proceedings. His clients include leading financial institutions, private equity sponsors, corporations and other businesses. He has handled cases involving derivative transactions, residential mortgage-backed securities, secured lending syndicates, M&A transactions, Ponzi schemes, apparel licensing agreements, and auction rate securities, among other issues. He was one of the leaders of the defense group in Adelphia Recovery Trust v. Bank of America, et al. and led the negotiations that resulted in a settlement of that litigation for a small fraction of the claimed damages. He also recently represented one of the lead creditors in the In re Jefferson County Chapter 9 proceedings that, at the time, were the largest municipal bankruptcy proceedings in U.S. history. He also recently obtained a $168 million judgment for a large financial institution in a case involving an interest rate derivative transaction with a Brazilian manufacturing concern and is currently representing a number of financial institutions in connection with claims arising out of their issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities. He maintains an active pro bono practice and served as Co-Chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee for almost 10 years. He has represented pro bono clients in a number of areas including housing, education and discrimination matters. He represented the Campaign for Fiscal Equity in its successful constitutional challenge to the public education funding system in New York State. He has been awarded the Legal Aid Society’s Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service and Manhattan Legal Service’s Visionary Leadership Award in connection with his pro bono and public service efforts. Bill is a member of the American Law Institute; former Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Pro Bono and Legal Services and member of its delegation to the New York State Bar Association’s House of Delegates and current Chair of its Special Committee on Legal Services Awards; former Chairman of the Board of Manhattan Legal Services; a member of the Advisory Board of Legal Outreach, Inc.; a member of the Board of the National Center for Access to Justice and the Board of Legal Services NYC; co-chair of the New York State Bar Association’s President’s Committee on Access to Justice and a member of its Special Committee on Student Loan Assistance for the Public Interest; and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Alliance for New York. He was selected as a David Rockefeller Fellow for 2000–2001. He currently serves as a Panel Chair on the Disciplinary Committee for the First Judicial Department and was appointed by New York State Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to the Chief Judge’s Attorney Emeritus Council. Bill was a featured speaker at the 2012 and 2014 Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institutes. He is co-author of the monthly column “New York Court of Appeals Roundup” appearing in the New York Law Journal, which discusses significant decisions by New York’s highest court. He has been recognized as a “litigation star” in Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation, recognized by The Legal 500, and named in New York Super Lawyers. Bill joined Simpson Thacher in 1990 and became a Partner in 1999. He received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Princeton University in 1987 and his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1990. He is admitted to practice before the Southern, Eastern and Northern District Courts of New York, the United States District of Arizona, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Fourth Circuits, the United States Supreme Court and all Courts of the State of New York.
June 16, 2023 | New York Law Journal
Court of Appeals: Standard Negligence Principles Apply to Premises Liability CasesIn Scurry v. New York City Housing Authority and Estate of Murphy v. New York City Housing Authority, the court ruled in cases from the Appellate Division, Second Department and Appellate Division, First Department, respectively, that intentional attacks on the respective decedents were not an independent intervening cause that broke the proximate causal nexus between the New York City Housing Authority's (NYCHA) alleged negligence in failing to adequately safeguard the premises and the decedents' deaths.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
6 minute read
May 16, 2023 | New York Law Journal
Court of Appeals: Taxi Companies Can't Sue NYC and TLC for Drop in Value of MedallionsThe Court of Appeals last month affirmed an Appellate Division, Second Department decision and held that taxicab companies could not sue the city of New York (NYC) and the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) for the diminished value of their taxicab medallions because the TLC never promised to take steps to protect the value of the medallions.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
8 minute read
April 18, 2023 | New York Law Journal
Conviction of Criminal Defendant Reversed Despite Unexplained Delay in Filing IndictmentIn their New York Court of Appeals Roundup, Neuner and Russell review the six-member Court of Appeals' recent 4-2 decision in which the court reversed the conviction of a criminal defendant in light of the People's largely unexplained four-year delay in filing an indictment.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
8 minute read
March 14, 2023 | New York Law Journal
Nondomiciliary's Actions in NY Sufficient to Establish Personal Jurisdiction Pursuant to Long-Arm StatuteThe Court of Appeals last month reversed a divided Appellate Division, Third Department and held that a nondomiciliary's actions in New York were sufficient to establish personal jurisdiction pursuant to New York's long-arm statute.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
8 minute read
December 20, 2022 | New York Law Journal
'Worthy' Clarifies Rights of Secured Creditors Under UCCIn a unanimous decision in 'Worthy Lending v. New Style Contactors', written by Judge Rowan D. Wilson, the Court held that the holder of a presently exercisable security interest in a debtor's receivables is included within the ambit of an "assignee" entitled under UCC 9-406 to receive payments directly from an account debtor after providing the account debtor with notice of the assignment.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
7 minute read
November 15, 2022 | New York Law Journal
Contract Language on Attorney Fee Recovery Must Be Clearly StatedThe Court of Appeals ruled last month that language in a contract must be express and "unmistakably clear" in order to evince the parties' intent to indemnify each other for attorney fees in an action between the parties.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
6 minute read
July 19, 2022 | New York Law Journal
Habeas Relief Not Applicable to Non-Human AnimalsIn 'Matter of Nonhuman Rights Project v. Breheny', a five-judge majority lead by the Chief Judge determined that writs of habeas corpus only protect the liberty rights of human beings and are not available to animals regardless of their respective level of functional intelligence.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
7 minute read
June 14, 2022 | New York Law Journal
New Trial for Defendant Deprived of Right To Present a DefenseIn a unanimous opinion written by Judge Madeline Singas, the court held that the trial court deprived the defendant of his constitutional right to present a defense by precluding certain evidence offered by the defendant in support of his justification defense.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
8 minute read
May 17, 2022 | New York Law Journal
Disclosure of Software Source Code Not Required To Establish Acceptance of DNA EvidenceThe court 'People v. Wakefield' found that the trial court had properly admitted DNA evidence generated by the TrueAllele Casework System even though the defense had not been provided with the underlying source code for the software utilized by TrueAllele.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
8 minute read
April 19, 2022 | New York Law Journal
Municipality Owes Special Duty When Executing No-Knock Search WarrantIn 'Ferreira v. City of Binghamton', the New York Court of Appeals answered a certified question from the Second Circuit concerning the showing that a plaintiff must make in order to hold a municipality liable when its police force negligently plans and executes a no-knock search warrant.
By Linton Mann III and William T. Russell Jr.
10 minute read
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