William H. Higgins

Bill is in the Financial Services Litigation section of Reed Smith's Financial Industry Group. Since 2002, Bill's practice has been focused on the defense of state and national class actions in state and federal courts. A number of those cases have involved the sale and design of life insurance and annuity products. Bill has worked with expert witnesses with respect to financial evaluations involving derivatives models and actuarial assessments. He also has experience in matters involving trade regulation, unfair competition, product and service distribution, advertising, and consumer finance.

Bill previously spent 13 years as in-house counsel and was a member of the senior management teams of two large business divisions. He was Southeast Region General Counsel for McCaw Cellular Communications as it grew rapidly and became the largest U.S. cellular telephone provider before being acquired by AT&T. Thereafter, he served as in-house litigation counsel on a variety of telecommunications matters and as counsel for AT&T's cable television and broadband operations in California.

During 12 years in private practice earlier in his career, Bill provided advice on mergers and acquisitions, public and private financings, executive compensation, federal securities regulation, and income taxes. Much of that experience was acquired in the representation of banks and bank holding companies.

Good to know

Areas of Practice 1) Financial Services Litigation, 2) Commercial Litigation and Disputes, 3) Securities Litigation & Enforcement, 4) Broker-Dealer Disputes, 5) Director and Officer Defense, 6) Institutional Investor Representation and 7) Regulatory Proceedings
Law School University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D.,1977
Education Davidson College, B.S.,1974
Bar Member / Association California State Bar Association, Florida State Bar Association, North Carolina State Bar Association
Most recent firm Reed Smith LLP
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