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William T. Russell is a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in the Firm’s Litigation Department. He represents clients in a wide variety of commercial disputes including banking litigation, bankruptcy and reorganization matters, securities litigation and contractual and transactional disputes, and has tried cases in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitral proceedings. His clients include leading members of the financial services and manufacturing industries. He recently was one of the leaders of the defense group in Adelphia Recovery Trust v. Bank of America, et al. and led the negotiations that resulted in a settlement of that litigation for a small fraction of the claimed damages.
He served as co-chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee for almost ten years and has represented pro bono clients in a number of areas including housing, education and discrimination matters. He represented the Campaign for Fiscal Equity in its successful constitutional challenge to the public education funding system in New York State.
Mr. Russell is a member of the American Law Institute, former Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Pro Bono and Legal Services and a current member of its delegation to the New York State Bar Association, Chairman of the Board of Manhattan Legal Services, a member of the Advisory Board of Legal Outreach, Inc., a member of the Board of the National Center for Access to Justice and a member of the New York State Bar Association’s President’s Committee on Access to Justice and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Alliance for New York. He was selected as a David Rockefeller Fellow for 2000-2001. He currently serves on the Disciplinary Committee for the First Judicial Department and was recently appointed by New York State Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to the Chief Judge’s Attorney Emeritus Council. He has been named in New York Super Lawyers and The Legal 500 and recognized as a “future litigation star” in Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation Survey.
Mr. Russell joined Simpson Thacher in 1990 and became a partner in 1999. He received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Princeton University in 1987 and his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1990. He is admitted to practice before the Southern, Eastern and Northern District Courts of New York, the United States District of Arizona, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States Supreme Court and all Courts of the State of New York.
Honors/Associations
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Manhattan Legal Services, Chair, Board of Directors (2007-Present) |
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Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Chair, Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee (2003-2007) |
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New York State Bar Association, Member, Committee on Credtior's Rights and Banking Litigation and Committee on Bankruptcy Litigation, 2005-Present |
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American Bar Association |
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American Law Institute |
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Center for Public Resources, Banking and Financial Services Committee |
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Legal Aid Society Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service |
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First Department Disciplinary Committee |
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Lawyers Alliance for New York, Board of Directors (1999-2005). |
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Legal Outreach, Inc., Member, Advisory Board, 2005-Present |
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David Rockefeller Fellow, 2000-2001 |
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Publications
Admissions
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New York 1991 |
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U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York 1991 |
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U.S. District Court Southern District of New York 1991 |
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U.S. District Court District of Arizona 1993 |
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U.S. District Court Northern District of New York 1996 |
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U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit 1999 |
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U.S. Supreme Court 2002 |
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Education
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New York University School of Law, 1990 J.D. |
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Princeton University, 1987 A.B.
magna cum laude |
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