William L Durham II (Bill)

Bill Durham is a partner in the Tort and Environmental Litigation Practice in King & Spalding’s Atlanta office. He has extensive experience representing products manufacturers in challenging jurisdictions, including several labeled “Judicial Hellholes” by the American Tort Reform Association. He has successfully handled both individual cases and class actions in these jurisdictions.

Mr. Durham excels at managing all aspects of complex, high stakes products litigation, including:

• Developing, executing, and defending theories of removal;
  
  
• Strategic planning in response to multiple filings against the same client;
  
  
• Planning and executing offensive and defensive discovery plans;
  
  
• Preparing company witnesses and expert witnesses for depositions and trial;
  
  
• Deposing and then arguing Daubert challenges to plaintiffs’ experts;
  
  
• Briefing and arguing discovery, dispositive, and pretrial motions;
  
  
• Identifying and working closely with local counsel; and
  
  
• Working cooperatively with national, regional, and local counsel for co-defendants.

Mr. Durham’s recent litigation experiences include:

• Serving as lead counsel for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in a successful interlocutory appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on a preemption issue that resulted in complete dismissal of a purported consumer fraud class action; and
  
  
• Representing R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in numerous product liability lawsuits filed in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri.