Overview
Bill serves on the firm's board of directors. He is a board certified specialist in the area of business litigation. His practice focuses on business litigation and trial practice, including bet the company litigation, securities litigation and arbitration, professional malpractice litigation, wills and trust contests and representation of fiduciaries and beneficiaries, probate litigation, director and officer litigation, employment litigation, restrictive covenant litigation and intellectual property litigation.
Bill is also an approved arbitrator with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the American Arbitration Association.
Bill served as President of the Florida Bar for the 2016-2017 term. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees for the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Bill was selected by Senate President Joe Negron to serve on the Florida Constitution Revision Commission as one of 37 commissioners responsible for studying, researching and making recommendations for revising Florida's Constitution. Presently, Bill is a member of the State of Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission.
Bill previously served eight years as a member of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, appointed by both Governors Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist, and served as its chairman.
Bill is a frequent speaker and lecturer on a number of litigation and trial topics, including deposition strategies and techniques, expert witness procedures and discovery, and trial issues in Florida.
After law school, Bill worked for Taub & Williams, P.A., subsequently establishing Williams, Schifino, Mangione & Steady, P.A. in 1991. There he was a founding shareholder, president and then managing director before the firm combined with Alabama-based Burr & Forman in 2012. In 2018, Bill joined Gunster and assumed the role of managing shareholder of the firm's Tampa office until 2022.
In addition to his law practice, Bill serves on the board of directors for Quantum Capital Partners, a Tampa based venture capital firm, FLMIC, a mutual insurance company serving the legal profession and the advisory board of Plutus Capital Partners, a Tampa based investment firm.
Experience
- Represented a family-owned multi-state farming operation in heavily litigated trust and estate matters involving competing family claims to assets in excess of $250 million. A successful resolution was reached leaving ownership of all of the farming operations with our clients.
- Represented one of the principal shareholders of a national privately owned company in a shareholder dispute defending against a fellow shareholder's effort to divest our client’s ownership interest valued in excess of $1 billion. Obtained a Summary Judgment in favor of our client.
- Represented national physician management group in highly contested non-compete and non-solicitation litigation against another national physician management group in which we successfully defeated a motion for temporary injunction, which was upheld on appeal, and the resulting settlement was extremely favorable for the client’s continued and successful business operations.
- Represented the defendants, including a publicly traded company, in a Federal jury trial brought by the SEC alleging multiple securities law violations. After a four week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of our clients on all counts.
- Represented a law firm client and successfully defended against fraud and RICO claims, which resulted in a favorable resolution for the client at a fraction of the plaintiff’s initial demands.
- Successfully represented a California based law firm in a claim for securities law violations in connection with its work in preparing a Private Placement Memorandum and obtained a defense verdict and recovered attorney's fees and costs on behalf of the defendants.
- Lead counsel in defending a large statewide law firm in a legal malpractice claim under the Interstate Land Sales Disclosure Act for claimed damages in excess of $60,000,000.00. After approximately two years of litigation, the case was settled for a fraction of the claimed damages.
- Represented the defendant, a public company, in the defense of a claim for breach of employment agreement, director/officer conflict of interest, negligence and fraud. Obtained a jury verdict in his client’s favor on all counts and ultimately obtained a jury verdict on a counter-claim for civil theft/embezzlement.
- Represented a group in investors in a securities fraud action against multiple defendants, involving a state-wide property insurance company, and after motion practice and discovery, reached a favorable multi-million-dollar settlement.
- Represented an AMLAW 100 national law firm in the defense of a lawsuit claiming $170 million in alleged damages emanating from alleged malpractice in connection with multiple securities law transactions.
Honors
- AV Preeminent rating as independently determined by Martindale-Hubbell
- Hillsborough County Bar Association, Outstanding Lawyer, 2014
- Chambers & Partners, "Leaders in Their Field," Litigation: General Commercial, 2016-24
- Florida Trend, "Legal Elite"
- “Hall of Fame”, 2020-22
- Commercial Litigation, 2006-10, 2013, 2015-16, 2019-20, 2022
- Business Law, 2016, 2018
- Tampa Magazine, "Top Lawyers"
- Securities/capital markets law, 2024
- Florida Super Lawyers
- Business Litigation, 2022-24
- Securities Litigation, 2006-21
- The Best Lawyers in America®
- Arbitration "Laywer of the Year" in Tampa, 2021, 2025
- Arbitration, Commercial Litigation, Securities Litigation, 2008-17, 2020-25
- Legal Malpractice Law- Defendants, 2022-25
- Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants "Lawyer of the Year" in Tampa, 2022
- Litigation-Securities Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Tampa, 2014, 2016
News & Insights
Speaking Engagements
Involvement
Professional Associations & Memberships
- Florida Constitution Revision Commission, 2017-18
- Florida Bar
- President, 2016-17
- Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Board of Governors , 2008-18
- Trial Lawyer Section
- Business Law Section
- Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
- Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors, 2015-21, 2023-present
- Florida Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Hillsborough County Bar Association, President, 2004-05
- Hillsborough County Bar Foundation, President, 2014-15
- American Bar Association
- Florida Justice Association, Fellow
- University of Florida Levin College of Law, Board of Trustees
- Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission
Civic & Community Service
- Metropolitan Ministries, Board of Directors, 2023-present
- Florida Guardian Ad Litem Association
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Tampa
- Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay, Inc., Director of Corporate Board
- Tampa Bay Little League, Inc.
- Coach
- President
Practices
Education
- University of Florida Levin College of Law, J.D., 1985
- Tulane University, B.A., 1982
Admissions
- Florida, 1986
