William B. Adams is Co-Chair of the firm’s National Appellate Practice and has been a member of that practice since its inception in 2005. In December 2021, the American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily named William “Litigator of the Week” for his Delaware Supreme Court victory on behalf of Mirae Asset in a $5.8 billion COVID busted-deal case.
William has handled dozens of appeals spanning a broad range of subject matters, including intellectual property, products liability, bankruptcy, insurance, environmental, regulatory, and constitutional law. He has particularly substantial experience in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Ninth, and Federal Circuits and the New York Appellate Division, First Department. His notable victories in intermediate appellate courts include Home Equity Mortgage Trust v. DLJ Mortgage Capital, Inc., which allowed $1.2 billion in claims related to residential mortgage-backed securities to proceed to trial; Aera Energy v. Beta Operating Co., which rejected a challenge to a chapter 11 reorganization plan and allowed the debtor to use $160 million in cash that had been tied up in a trust; and Brandt v. Bon-Ton Stores, which affirmed a landmark summary judgment victory in the first cosmetic talc case to approach trial in Philadelphia. William also has broad experience in the Supreme Court of the United States, where he has had a leading role in several successful petitions for certiorari and merits cases, including a groundbreaking design-patent victory in Samsung v. Apple.
William graduated with honors from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and with distinction from Stanford Law School, where he was a Note Editor for the Stanford Law Review. Before joining the firm, William served as a law clerk for Judge Judith W. Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
- American International Group
- Becton, Dickinson and Company
- Colgate-Palmolive Company
- Cultural Care, Inc.
- Dow Chemical Company
- Samsung Electronics
- Obtained an 8-0 victory for Samsung in the U.S. Supreme Court in Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple Inc., 137 S. Ct. 429 (2016), which held that, where a patented design is applied only to a component of a product, an award of infringer’s profits under Section 289 of the Patent Act should be limited to profits attributable to that component.
- Obtained a 6-2 victory for Wyeth, a division of Pfizer, in the U.S. Supreme Court in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, 562 U.S. 223 (2011), a decision holding that the Vaccine Act expressly preempts state-law design-defect claims against manufacturers of childhood vaccines.
- Obtained an 8-1 win for Shell Oil Company in the U.S. Supreme Court in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway v. United States; Shell Oil Co. v. United States, 556 U.S. 599 (2009), which held that a shipper of useful products may not be held liable under CERCLA as an “arranger” for the disposal of hazardous waste.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Mirae Asset in the Delaware Supreme Court, in AB Stable VIII LLC v. MAPS Hotels and Resorts One LLC, __ A.3d __, 2021 WL 5832875 (Del. 2021), which held that the seller’s drastic changes to its hotel operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic without first obtaining the buyer’s consent breached the ordinary course covenant and excused the buyer from closing the $5.8 billion deal.
- Obtained a 3-2 win for CWCapital Cobalt Vr Ltd. in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, in CW Capital Cobalt Vr v. CW Capital Investments, 195 A.D.3d 12 (1st Dep’t 2021), which applied the continuing-obligations doctrine to reverse the dismissal of claims against Cobalt’s investment advisor and affiliates in the multi-hundred million dollar case.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Vantage Deepwater in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in Vantage Deepwater Co. v. Petrobras America, Inc., 966 F.3d 361 (5th Cir. 2020), which rejected a public policy challenge to enforcement of a $722 million arbitration award against Petrobras.
- Obtained a unanimous win for a group of real-estate developers in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Oakland Bulk & Oversized Terminals, LLC v. City of Oakland, 960 F.3d 603 (9th Cir. 2020), which held that the City of Oakland had breached a development agreement by passing legislation that modified the permitted uses of the marine terminal that our clients had been authorized to build.
- Obtained a unanimous win for a Fortune 200 consumer products company in the Pennsylvania Superior Court, in Brandt v. Bon-Ton Stores, 2020 WL 865276 (Pa. Super. 2020), which affirmed a landmark summary judgment victory in the first cosmetic talc case to approach trial in Philadelphia.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Amplify Energy Corp. in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in Aera Energy v. Beta Operating Co., 799 F. App’x 221 (5th Cir. 2020), which rejected a challenge to the chapter 11 reorganization plan of an Amplify subsidiary and allowed it to use $160 million in cash that had been tied up in a trust.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Berry Petroleum Company in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in French v. Linn Energy, L.L.C., 936 F.3d 334 (5th Cir. 2019), which held that claims asserted against Berry by a former shareholder were subject to subordination under Section 510(b) of the Bankruptcy Code.
- Obtained a unanimous win for U.S. Bank, N.A., as trustee, in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, in Home Equity Mortgage Trust v. DLJ Mortgage Capital, Inc., 175 A.D.3d 1175 (1st Dep’t 2019), which allowed our clients to proceed to trial on $1.2 billion in claims arising from DLJ’s breach of representations and warranties in four RMBS trusts.
- Obtained a unanimous win for G-I Holdings in the New Jersey Appellate Division, in Ashland Inc. v. G-I Holdings Inc., 2019 WL 1552750 (N.J. App. Div. 2019), which reversed a lower court’s ruling that had allowed G-I’s former co-client to disclose certain documents protected by the attorney-co-client privilege to third parties.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Samsung in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, in MPEG LA v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 166 A.D.3d 13 (1st Dep’t 2018), which reversed a $115 million judgment entered against Samsung for supposed breach of patent-pool licensing agreements.
- Obtained a unanimous win for the Federal Housing Finance Agency in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in FHFA v. Nomura Holding America, Inc., 873 F.3d 85 (2d Cir. 2017), which affirmed an $806 million judgment in favor of FHFA under Sections 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act and analogous Blue Sky laws.
- Obtained a unanimous win for The Bank of New York Mellon, as securities administrator for an RMBS trust, in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, in Bank of New York Mellon v. WMC Mortgage, LLC, 151 A.D.3d 72 (1st Dep’t 2017), which reinstated claims alleging breach of “backstop” repurchase obligations for defective loans and obligations to notify of such defects.
- Obtained a unanimous win for The Dow Chemical Company in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Nova Chemicals Corp. (Canada) v. Dow Chemical Co., 856 F.3d 1012 (Fed. Cir. 2017), which affirmed an award of attorneys’ fees under Section 285 of the Patent Act, following a prior unanimous win for Dow that had affirmed the dismissal of an independent action seeking to set aside a final judgment of patent infringement, see 607 F. App’x 993 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
- Obtained a unanimous win for Infrassure, Ltd., a Swiss reinsurer, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Infrassure Ltd. v. First Mutual Transportation Assurance Co., 842 F.3d 174 (2d Cir. 2016), which interpreted a reinsurance agreement containing two competing arbitration provisions and held the one requiring arbitration in New York applied to the parties’ dispute concerning claims filed after Superstorm Sandy.
- Obtained a win for Shell Oil in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Alaska Wilderness League v. Jewell, 788 F.3d 1212 (9th Cir. 2015), which denied petitions for review challenging Shell’s oil spill response plans for the Alaskan Outer Continental Shelf against challenge under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Pinterest in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, in Schroeder v. Pinterest, 133 A.D.3d 12 (1st Dep’t 2015), which affirmed dismissal of all claims against Pinterest for alleged trade-secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment in connection with development of Pinterest website and app.
- Obtained a unanimous win for GFI Group in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, in Fewer v. GFI Group, Inc., 124 A.D.3d 457 (1st Dep’t 2015), which reversed entry of summary judgment against GFI in employment alleging former employee violated restrictive covenants in orchestrating massive employee defection.
- Obtained win for Colgate-Palmolive Company in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, sitting en banc, in Barlow v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 772 F.3d 1001 (4th Cir. 2014), which reversed a district court’s denial of a motion to vacate a remand order and became the first court of appeals to hold that district courts have authority under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(3) to vacate remand orders procured by misconduct or fraud.
- Obtained a unanimous win for a pro bono client in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in E.M. v. New York City Department of Education, 758 F.3d 442 (2d Cir. 2014), which vacated a district court’s judgment that had declined to require the NYC Department of Education to pay the tuition for a private program in which our client had placed her severely autistic daughter because she believed that the public school could not offer a safe and appropriate learning environment.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Samsung in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., 735 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 2013), which affirmed denial of permanent injunction with respect to three design patents and registered and unregistered trade dress.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Entergy in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC v. Shumlin, 733 F.3d 393 (2d Cir. 2013), which affirmed prior victory following bench trial in district court and which held that the Atomic Energy Act preempts Vermont’s efforts to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant for radiological safety reasons reserved to the federal government.
- Obtained a unanimous win for AIG in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in American Int’l Group v. Bank of America, 712 F.3d 775 (2d Cir. 2013), which held that defendants could not remove state RMBS fraud cases to federal court under the Edge Act where the foreign (or insular) banking transactions at issue were not made by the federal bank that was a party to the suit.
- Obtained a unanimous win for the Federal Housing Finance Agency in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Federal Housing Finance Agency v. UBS Americas Inc., 712 F.3d 136 (2d Cir. 2013), which held that the statute of limitations in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 supersedes the statute of repose in the Securities Act of 1933, allowing FHFA’s RMBS fraud suits against 18 banks to proceed.
- Obtained unanimous wins for Shell Oil in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in REDOIL v. EPA, 716 F.3d 1155 (9th Cir. 2013), and Alaska Wilderness League v. EPA, 727 F.3d 934 (9th Cir. 2013), which upheld against Clean Air Act challenge EPA’s air permits for Shell’s operation of drillship Noble Discover and drilling unit Kulluk in the Alaskan Arctic.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Shell Oil in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Native Village of Point Hope v. Salazar, 680 F.3d 1123 (9th Cir. 2012), which denied petitions for review of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s approval of Shell’s 2012 exploration plans for oil and gas resources on the Alaskan Outer Continental Shelf; obtained similar win as to Minerals Management Service’s approval of Shell’s 2010 exploration plan in Native Village of Point Hope v. Salazar, 378 F. App’x 747 (9th Cir. 2010)
- Obtained vacatur of convictions of an individual white-collar conviction in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in United States v. Banki, 660 F.3d 665 (2d Cir. 2011), which held that Iranian trade embargo restrictions do not unambiguously prohibit non-commercial remittances, including family remittances, between Iran and individuals in the United States.
- Obtained a unanimous win for a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Affymax, Inc. v. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 660 F.3d 281 (7th Cir. 2011), which reversed a vacatur of an arbitration award in a patent dispute and making new law narrowing the scope of “manifest disregard of law” as a ground for vacatur under the FAA.
- Obtained a unanimous win for PG&E in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in SLOMFP v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 635 F.3d 1109 (9th Cir. 2011), which upheld the NRC’s environmental assessment of a spent-fuel storage facility at a nuclear power plant.
- Obtained a unanimous win for OneBeacon America Insurance Company in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. v. North Pacific Insurance Co., 446 F. App’x 909 (9th Cir. 2011), which vacated a multi-million judgment in an insurance coverage dispute.
- Obtained a unanimous win for a CNA subsidiary in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in Park Terrace, LLC v. Transportation Ins. Co., 338 Wis. 2d 484, 808 N.W.2d 741 (Wis. App. 2011), which reversed a $8 million judgment in a bad-faith insurance dispute.
- Obtained a unanimous win for AIG subsidiaries in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in AXA Versicherung AG v. New Hampshire Insurance Co., 391 F. App’x 25 (2d Cir. 2010), which rejected a jury verdict finding that a fraud claim had been brought within the statute of limitations and reversed a $34 million judgment.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Kamehameha Schools in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Doe v. Kamehameha Schools/Bernice Pauahi Estate, 596 F.3d 1036 (9th Cir. 2010), which held that plaintiffs could not proceed anonymously in their suit challenging the Kamehameha Schools’ admissions policy.
- Obtained a unanimous win for Allegheny Energy in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. v. Allegheny Energy, Inc., 500 F.3d 171 (2d Cir. 2007), which overturned a $188 million contract judgment and reinstated all counterclaims in a contract dispute over sale of an energy trading business.
- Stanford Law School
(J.D., with distinction, 2004)- Order of the Coif
- Stanford Law Review:
- Note Editor
- Stanford Law & Policy Review:
- Senior Editor
- Supreme Court Litigation Clinic
- Cornell University
(B.S., Industrial & Labor Relations, with honors, 2001)
- State Bar of New York
- State Bar of California
- Supreme Court of the United States
- United States Court of Appeals:
- First Circuit
- Second Circuit
- Third Circuit
- Fourth Circuit
- Fifth Circuit
- Seventh Circuit
- Ninth Circuit
- Eleventh Circuit
- D.C. Circuit
- Federal Circuit
- United States District Court:
- Southern District of New York
- Eastern District of New York
- Northern District of California
- Southern District of California
- Law Clerk to the Hon. Judith W. Rogers:
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 2004-2005
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America: Appellate, inc. Supreme Court, 2025
- Legal 500 USA for Dispute Resolution: Appellate – Courts of Appeal/Supreme Courts (States and Federal) “Recommended Lawyers”, 2024