People
William J.F. Roll, III
Biography
William is U.S. Co-General Counsel. Previously, he held the role of General Counsel of Shearman and Sterling before which he was a partner in Litigation for many years.
William represented clients in a variety of commercial and financial litigation. His practice included bankruptcy and workout-related litigation, bank fraud and lender liability actions, private antitrust and securities actions, intellectual property litigation, and real estate litigation. In addition to trial level work in the foregoing areas in many jurisdictions around the country, he also handled appeals in both state and federal courts in New York, California, Florida, Ohio, Texas, and elsewhere. William also handled arbitrations conducted under the auspices of the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, the New York Stock Exchange, and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
William, who is admitted in both New York and California (and has practiced in both jurisdictions), joined the firm in 1980 following a judicial clerkship with the Hon. Thomas C. Platt, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York. He served as the firm’s global Hiring Partner from 1994 through 1996.
Practice areas
- Antitrust litigation
- Insurance
Sectors
- Financial institutions
- Insurance
- Life sciences and healthcare
Selected experience
- Coldwater Creek and affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
- Citibank, N.A. in the Chapter 11 cases of Residential Capital and affiliates in the Bankruptcy Court in New York, including, in a decision of first impression, successfully obtaining post-petition interest at the contractual default rate, as well as attorneys' fees, despite the debtors' insolvency and inability to pay unsecured claims in full.
- Ardagh Group S.A. in the successful defense of an action in the District Court in Philadelphia by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation seeking involuntary termination of the pension plan Ardagh would assume and sponsor following its acquisition of the Verallia North America subsidiary of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain.
- China State Construction Engineering Corp. and affiliates in the Chapter 11 cases in the Bankruptcy Court in Delaware of the owner and developer of the Baha Mar casino and resort development project in Nassau, Bahamas.
- Bank of America, N.A. and Merrill Lynch and affiliates in major aspects of the Chapter 11 cases of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. and affiliates in the Bankruptcy Court in New York.
- The court-appointed Chapter 11 Trustee in the Chapter 11 cases of GSC Group and affiliates in the Bankruptcy Court in New York.
- Vedanta Resources plc and its subsidiaries Sterlite (USA), Inc. and Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. in the proposed purchase of assets and related litigation in the Chapter 11 cases of Asarco LLC and affiliates in the Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas.
- Fairfax Financial Holdings in the successful defense of a $400 million fraudulent conveyance action relating to a dispute concerning an intercompany financing arrangement in the Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
- Tomen America, Inc. and affiliates in an action in state court in Naples, Florida, involving various claims by and against a local developer relating to several real estate joint ventures.
- Oneida Ltd. and affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the Bankruptcy Court in New York.
Education
- Boston College A.B., summa cum laude
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Cornell University Law School J.D., cum laude
Admissions
- Attorney-at-Law, New York
- Attorney-at-Law, California
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit