Bill Hanlon, co-leader of the Litigation Department in Goodwin Procter’s Washington, D.C.office, focuses his practice on complex commercial and mass tort-related litigation, including class actions, products liability, professional liability and insurance coverage, with litigation of claims in numerous state and federal trial and appellate courts. Mr. Hanlon also is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Work for Clients

Mr. Hanlon has represented numerous companies, professional organizations, and other law firms in a variety of significant litigation. Currently, he represents a ten-company group (including CertainTeed Corporation, Dana Corporation and Union Carbide Corp.) in nationwide litigation involving over 300 actions in scores of state and federal courts, seeking to hold those companies liable for over $1 billion in settlement obligations left unpaid by other, now-bankrupt companies under multi-defendant mass tort settlement agreements; serves as a member of Dana Corporation’s national strategy team for asbestos-related litigation, with responsibility for developing and implementing national litigation strategy and supervision of all discovery disputes; and defends an Am-Law 100 law firm in a multi-million dollar contingent fee dispute with another law firm.

Mr. Hanlon also has served for many years as Special Counsel for the Center For Claims Resolution, a claims-handling organization that handled all asbestos-related personal injury claims against its twenty corporate members. His responsibilities have included strategic advice and representation on a wide range of litigation-related matters, including the development, negotiation, and litigation of the landmark asbestos settlement class action in Georgine v. Amchem Products, Inc. , 157 F.R.D. 246, rev’d 83 F2d 610 (3rd Cir. 1996), aff'd Amchem v. Windsor, 1997 U.S. LEXIS 4032 (June 25, 1997).

Publications/Presentations

Mr. Hanlon has appeared as a lecturer or panelist at numerous conferences and seminars, on topics including class actions, complex litigation and mass tort litigation. At the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Mr. Hanlon also served as Associate Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

Professional Experience

Mr. Hanlon was the Administrative Partner, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, at Shea & Gardner prior to its combination with Goodwin Procter in 2004. Prior to joining Shea & Gardner, he served as Law Clerk to Judge Arlin M. Adams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1979 to 1980.

Bar and Court Admissions

Mr. Hanlon is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

Education

J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1979 (cum laude)
Honours B.A. in Jurisprudence, University of Oxford, 1977
B.A., College of William and Mary, 1975