Bill Ferranti is a member of the firm’s appellate and critical motions practice. He has authored briefs in major commercial and constitutional cases in a variety of state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. His argument experience in the federal appellate courts includes a case before the Seventh Circuit sitting en banc that resulted in a unanimous decision in favor of his client.
Mr. Ferranti has extensive experience with jurisdictional and procedural issues, including appellate jurisdiction – what can be appealed, when, and how – as well as federal subject matter jurisdiction and class certification. On such issues, he regularly advises and assists clients and colleagues – including the firm's intellectual property and wage and hour litigators. Mr. Ferranti also has experience with numerous areas of substantive law. For example, he has handled matters involving the First Amendment, the Hatch-Waxman Act and other patent laws, the federal securities laws, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, preemption, the federal securities laws, church property, government contractor immunity,common law agency, and in pari delicto.
Representative Experience
Represents generic drug manufacturers in appeals arising from patent litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act. E.g., Alcon Research Ltd. v. Barr Labs., No. 2012-1340 (Fed. Cir.) (pending) (argued) (non-infringement, enablement, federal procedure; prescription eye drop); Bristol Meyers Squibb Co. v. Teva Pharm. USA, Inc., No. 2013-1306 (Fed. Cir.) (pending) (obviousness; hepatitis B drug); Bayer Schering Pharma AG v. Barr Labs., 575 F.3d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2009), cert. denied (2010) (obviousness; birth control drug); see also Caraco Pharm. Labs., Ltd. v. Novo Nordisk A/S, 566 U.S. __ (2012) (joined team to help respond to jurisdictional challenge raised during merits briefing).
Represented Respondent on the merits in a Supreme Court case involving preemption under the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Act. The Court ruled unanimously in favor of our client, holding that federal law preempts state statutes that interfere with federal employees’ “unfettered freedom of choice” in selecting who will receive and enjoy the benefits of their life insurance policies. Hillman v. Maretta, 569 U.S. __ (2013).
Represented defendant on Rule 23(f) appeal and in district court proceedings in an antitrust class action. E.g., Messner v. Northshore Univ. HealthSystem, 669 F.3d 802 (7th Cir. 2012).
Represents the Field Museum of Natural History in ongoing collection proceedings initiated by judgment-creditors of the Islamic Republic of Iran seeking to attach, seize, and sell Persian antiquities in the Museum’s collection, including in an interlocutory appeal in which the Seventh Circuit agreed with our positions on appellate jurisdiction and on the right of a third-party possessor of purportedly sovereign property to invoke the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 637 F.3d 783 (7th Cir. 2011) (argued).
In a pair of post-Hurricane Katrina proceedings, successfully defeated multi-billion dollar claims charging essentially the entire Gulf Coast dredging industry with responsibility for the devastation of New Orleans because of dredging work performed in the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet under contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Ackerson v. Bean Dredging LLC, 589 F.3d 196 (5th Cir. 2009) (argued); In re Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 624 F.3d 201 (5th Cir. 2010) (argued).
Represents Grant Thornton LLP in long-running litigation arising from the collapse of the Italian dairy conglomerate Parmalat SpA, in which we have successfully obtained dismissal of tort claims brought by bankruptcy estates of two U.S. Parmalat affiliates, Pappas v. Bank of Am. Corp., 309 Fed. Appx. 536 (2d Cir. 2009), obtained summary judgment from the SDNY on in pari delicto grounds, and persuaded the Second Circuit that the district court had related-to jurisdiction over claims brought by Parmalat’s bankruptcy trustee, Parmalat Capital Fin. Ltd. v. Bank of Am. Corp., 639 F.3d 572 (2d Cir. 2011).
Represented Caremark in interlocutory appeals arising from litigation under the federal False Claims Act and similar state laws. In one appeal, taken by a group of States raising a sovereign immunity defense to “counterclaims” asserted by Caremark, the Fifth Circuit agreed that the merits should be addressed by the district court in the first instance. Texas v. Caremark Inc., 584 F.3d 655 (5th Cir. 2009) (argued). On remand, the district court ruled in Caremark’s favor. In subsequent appeals by the United States and a group of States, the Fifth Circuit affirmed in substantial part decisions granting Caremark partial summary judgment on claims that its handling of reimbursement requests from state Medicaid agencies violated the state and federal FCAs. United States v. Caremark Inc., 634 F.3d 808 (5th Cir. 2011) (argued).
Successfully obtained a new trial based on the district court’s failure to recruit counsel for an indigent civil plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Following a 2-1 defeat at the panel stage, the en banc court decided unanimously in our client’s favor. Pruitt v. Mote, 503 F.3d 647 (7th Cir. 2007) (en banc) (argued).
Prepared amicus briefs in support of certiorari and on the merits on behalf of as many as eight generic drug manufacturers on the winning side in Mensing and Bartlett—a pair of Supreme Court cases involving preemption of state-law failure-to-warn and design-defect claims against generic drug manufacturers. PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, 564 U.S. __ (2011); Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, 570 U.S. __ (2013).
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Ferranti served as a law clerk for the Hon. Frank H. Easterbrook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Mr. Ferranti received a B.A. in Religion from Columbia University in 1999. He received a J.D., with high honors, from the University of Chicago Law School in 2004, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as articles editor for the University of Chicago Law Review.
Mr. Ferranti's court admissions include the following:
U.S. Supreme Court
Northern District of Illinois
Central District of Illinois
2nd Circuit
5th Circuit
7th Circuit
9th Circuit
Federal Circuit
Activities
Mr. Ferranti is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, and the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association.
