William T. Purdue

Bill is a partner in the Boston office of Morrison Mahoney. He concentrates his practice in the areas of medical malpractice, general liability and products liability defense, and represents professionals, senior executives, Fortune 50 companies, large construction companies and manufacturing companies in malpractice claims, fraud allegations, general liability claims, commercial matters, regulatory compliance and cybersecurity response and litigation. Bill also has extensive experience representing medical retail clinics, pharmacies and pharmacy professionals in the areas of evidenced based medicine and pharmacy malpractice.

Bill has experience in high profile defense matters including representation of entities and individuals before regulatory and licensing Boards of Registration, professional malpractice, commercial fraud, products liability and construction litigation. He was previously appointed regional defense counsel for national construction firm with more than $1B in revenue. He is also well versed in investigating catastrophic construction events, handling disputes with subcontractors, and assessing contracts to best mitigate exposure in construction site accidents.

Bill handles high profile defense matters including representing entities and individuals before regulatory and licensing Boards of Registration, professional malpractice, commercial fraud, products liability and construction litigation. Having served as national counsel for a Fortune 5 healthcare company for 16 years, and later a senior team lead for one of the largest steel companies in the world, he is well-versed in all aspects of litigation and environmental compliance. Bill is experienced in investigating catastrophic and sensitive events to preserve critical evidence and maximize the protections of work product and attorney-client privileges.

Prior to returning to the firm, Bill was the Deputy General Counsel – Litigation for the second largest domestic steel manufacturer, responsible for providing direct support, business counseling, investigative and strategic legal advice on sensitive matters with high-profile legal, regulatory, financial and reputational risk, and ensuring environmental, regulatory, and privacy compliance.  Bill is also a retired Navy JAG officer who served on both active duty and in the Navy reserves, attaining the rank of Captain.

In addition to his practice, Bill is a frequent guest lecturer in Boston College’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity Policy on the legal consequences of cyber breaches, emerging regulatory and litigation trends in cybersecurity, strategies for limiting legal, financial and reputational exposure and ethical decision-making in times of cyber crises.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Primary negotiator in high profile litigation and matters involving the highest level of civil, regulatory and reputational risk for the Firm’s largest clients
• Investigated and spearheaded litigation and coordinated public relations response to high exposure incidents and cases in multiple jurisdictions
• Lead counsel responsible for interacting with various state and regulatory agencies on behalf of individual and institutional clients
• Responsible for managing all litigation in several designated states as well as, assigned primary responsibility of analysis of legal and regulatory risk in emerging markets for expanding Fortune 5 company; assessed the litigation needs in those jurisdictions; recruited local law firms to meet the identified needs; and developed policies and protocols intended to minimize risk

• Reported cases of Hamilton v. Ganias, 417 Mass 666 (1994) and Kelly v. Raytheon, Inc., 29 Mass App. Ct. 1000 (1990).