Practice Focus

Media, Complex Commercial Litigation, Medical Malpractice Defense, General Civil Litigation

Experience

Bill is a senior member of the litigation group, concentrating his practice in the area of media law. During the past 32 years, he has represented dozens of media clients in cases involving access to records and proceedings under the New Hampshire and U.S. Constitutions, the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law, and the Freedom of Information Act. Bill's experience includes:

• Counseling New Hampshire newspapers on a regular basis; serving as counsel for the press in many of the most significant First Amendment cases and freedom of speech cases affecting the citizens and media in New Hampshire. Significant judicial decisions include State v. Siel, 122 N.H. 254 (1982) (establishes qualified reporter's privilege, in criminal cases) and Thomson v. Cash, 117 N.H. 653 (1977) (access to court records)
• Representing national publications such as the New York Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, Fortune, Time and Business Week as well as The Associated Press.
• Defending print media publishers including St. Martin's Press, Bantam Doubleday, Harper Collins and Time-Life Books.
• Defending mass-media insurance defamation case, Hugel v. Milberg Weiss Bershad Haynes and Lerach, LLP, 175 F. 3d 14 (1st Cir. 1999)

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning and Probate Administration
• Litigation
• Media and First Amendment
• Medical Malpractice and Risk Management

Professional Activities

• New Hampshire Supreme Court's Committee on the Judiciary and the Media
• New Hampshire Bar Association Ethics Committee
• Faculty member at libel privacy seminars sponsored by the American Newspaper Publisher Association, Practicing Law Institute, the New England Press Association, and the New Hampshire Bar Association

Honors and Distinctions

• Cited in The Best Lawyers in America 2005, 2006, 2007 for first amendment law and appellate law (2007)
• Recognized in Chambers USA, America's Leading Business Lawyers 2005, for first amendment law and 2006 for general commercial litigation
• New Hampshire Bar Association's E. Donald Dufresne Award for Outstanding Professionalism, 1999
• Leadership Award, United Way of Merrimack County, 1997
• New Hampshire Bar Association President's Award, 1992

Community Involvement

• Chair, “The Campaign for Public Radio,” New Hampshire Public Radio
• Board of Trustees, New Hampshire Humanities Council

Bar Admissions

Bill is admitted to practice in the state courts of New Hampshire, the Federal District Court in New Hampshire, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Education

Williams College, B.A., 1964; University of Colorado School of Law, J.D., 1972; Member, Board of Editors; University of Colorado Law Review, 1971-1972

Publications

Co-authored with James P. Bassett, “Survey of New Hampshire Libel Law,” published as a part of the Libel Defense Resource Center's 50-State Survey of Libel Law, 2004.

“Tapping Officials' Secrets: The Door to Open Government in New Hampshire,” published as a chapter in Tapping Officials' Secrets Compendium, by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 4th Ed. 2001.

“Lawyer-Client Sex: A Per Se Violation of Rule 1.7 (b),” New Hampshire Bar News, August 18, 1993.