Print
Bill is head of the firm's data privacy and security team. He focuses his practice on IP litigation, internal investigations, data security and privacy counseling and litigation and export and import regulatory compliance and litigation.
Bill has provided data privacy and security counseling to the following industry sectors: Aviation, Advertising, Automotive, Construction, Defense Contractors, Education, Entertainment, Food Service and Distribution, Finance, Government (White House, DOD, GSA, NSA, NSF, FCC and FTC), Healthcare, Hospitality, Information Management and Security, Insurance, Internet Sales and Auctions, Not for Profit, Retail, Utilities (Power, Gas and Electric) and Telecommunications.
He has counseled clients with respect to specific security controls under the PCI-DSS, state privacy laws and federal HIPAA/HITECH, PCII and FTC regulations. As an intellectual property litigator, he handles cases involving trade secrets, industrial espionage, copyrights, patents, malvertising, privacy rights, and unfair competition before federal and state courts and the FTC. He conducts internal corporate investigations involving industrial espionage, employee misconduct, computer intrusions and corporate security audits.
Internationally, he works with clients in Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Brussels, Germany, Italy and Israel on ISO 27001, PIPEDA and the EU Data Privacy Act on security compliance. His international investigations have additionally involved China, Japan, Russia, Bulgaria, Poland and Saudi Arabia.
Each year since 2008, he has been recognized as a "Leader in the Field" by Chambers USA and Global for his security and privacy practice.
Prior to entering into private practice. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, serving for 14 years in the Special Prosecutions Unit of that office. He has tried 85 cases as a prosecutor and in private practice. While with the Justice Department, he headed the Computer Fraud & Abuse Task Force in Chicago and served as the Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Espionage Coordinator in the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office. He also acted as the Justice Department Liaison for business continuity planning to FEMA.
In private practice he counsels corporate clients regarding business continuity planning and co-authored Critical Information Infrastructure Protection and the Law, published by the National Research Council.
He has handled white collar criminal matters for victims and defendants concerning industrial espionage, healthcare fraud, defense contracting fraud, mail fraud and violations of U.S. export restrictions.
Bill also advises clients on export and import regulations and compliance with respect to the Commerce Department’s Export Administration Regulations and the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms requirements. He litigates export and import compliance matters, as well as new shipper review designations.
Bill testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, the FCC and the National Science Foundation on Internet law and liability. He has taught Internet and Web Law as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Law School, been a guest lecturer on Information Security Law and Liability at Bell Laboratories, Harvard, Yale, Purdue, the University of Illinois and the University of Salzburg.
Prior to his legal career, Bill served in the U.S. Army Infantry from 1968 to 1970. As an Airborne Ranger, he was deployed as a combat infantry platoon leader with the 25th Infantry Division in the Republic of South Vietnam. As a result of his service, he was awarded a Combat Infantry Badge, three Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, two Army Commendation Medals and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.