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    Home /  Lawyers /  William B. Monahan

    William B. Monahan

    Partner

    William B. Monahan Headshot Photo Portrait backdrop

    New York

    +1-212-558-7375

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    monahanw@sullcrom.com

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    Bill Monahan is Head of the Firm’s Products Liability & Mass Torts Group and a partner in the Firm’s Litigation Group. He focuses on “bet-the-company,” products liability/mass tort, securities, shareholder/corporate governance, complex commercial, employment, ESG, and M&A litigation, as well as related governmental and internal investigations. For almost 20 years, Bill has represented prominent corporations and individuals in their most challenging cases, including at jury and bench trials, before arbitration panels, and on appeal in federal and state courts across the United States. His corporate clients have included prominent automotive, pharmaceutical, healthcare, telecom, financial services, and computer companies.

    Bill is currently spearheading the defense of Koninklijke Philips N.V. and its affiliates in its litigation across the globe relating to the June 2021 recall of certain CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and mechanical ventilator devices, including consumer class actions, personal injury lawsuits, and shareholder litigation, as well as related regulatory inquiries. 

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    Spotlight

    Bill Monahan and Jessica Klein Named ‘Litigators of the Week’ Runner Up for Settlement for NYC Special Education Students

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    Bill Monahan discusses S&C’s Law360 ‘Practice Group of the Year’ win for Product Liability

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    blue-award-trophies

    The New Proposed Federal Rule 16.1 and Its Implications for Multidistrict Litigation

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    monahan_palmer_368x159

    S&C Obtains Summary Judgment for Volkswagen in Emissions Litigation Brought by Counties

    Read More
    • Experience
    • Rankings and Recognitions
    • News
    • Publications, Videos and Podcasts
    • Credentials
    • Related Practices
    Experience

    Experience

    Products Liability & Mass Torts

    • Representing in the United States, and managing the defense on a global scale of, Koninklijke Philips N.V. and affiliates in hundreds of consumer class actions and personal injury lawsuits, as well as shareholder litigation and regulatory inquiries, related to the June 2021 recall of certain CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and mechanical ventilator devices. Two MDLs have been established in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
    • Representing Volkswagen and Stellantis/FCA US LLC in numerous federal and state actions, including MDLs in San Francisco, as well as regulatory investigations, regarding allegations that certain of their diesel vehicles emitted nitrogen oxides in excess of the limits imposed by U.S. law. Litigation has included consumer class action litigation, opt-out litigation, securities litigation, dealer litigation, and litigation with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and various State Attorneys General.
    • Represented Volkswagen in a three-week jury and bench trial in federal court in San Francisco. Following 11 days of trial, the jury rejected bellwether consumers’ claims seeking millions of dollars in damages after opting out of the related consumer class action settlements.

    • Represented Volkswagen and Audi in securing the dismissal on standing grounds—upheld on appeal—of a putative class action in the Northern District of California brought by individuals who both purchased and sold their diesel vehicles before news of the diesel emissions issues became public. Named The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week.”
    • Represented Volkswagen in successfully opposing class certification, and then obtaining summary judgment, in a putative nationwide consumer class action alleging fraud in connection with Volkswagen’s certified pre-owned vehicle program.
    • Secured the dismissal of most claims against FCA US LLC at the pleading stage in two putative nationwide consumer class actions in the Eastern District of Michigan concerning (i) two alleged defects in model year 2013-2017 Ram 2500 and 3500 diesel trucks, and (ii) an alleged defect in the Exhaust Gas Recirculation coolers in model year 2014–2019 Ram 1500 diesel trucks.

    Securities Litigation, Corporate Governance Litigation and Complex Commercial Disputes

    • Representing AT&T, Inc. in shareholder derivative litigation related to alleged environmental and public health risks posed by its network of lead-sheathed telecommunications cables
    • Representing AT&T in securing, at the pleading stage, the dismissal of two securities class actions in New York alleging violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Sections 11 and 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 in connection with alleged misrepresentations regarding DIRECTV NOW, a video streaming product
    • Represented various M&A contracting parties in various post-closing disputes before independent accountants and arbitration panels, including purchase price adjustments
    • Represented Philips Healthcare in a contract action in California federal court alleging that Philips failed to adequately market a product pursuant to a license agreement
    • Represented Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ferrari in obtaining the voluntary dismissal—following an oral argument at which the court issued a tentative ruling dismissing all claims—of a securities action in the Northern District of California alleging misstatements in connection with Fiat Chrysler’s 2016 spinoff of its remaining equity stake in Ferrari
    • Representing Illinois Tool Works as plaintiff in litigation in Delaware Superior Court alleging that the defendant private equity firm fraudulently induced plaintiff into buying one of defendant’s portfolio companies
    • Representing various companies in “Delaware-style” litigation, including shareholder derivative actions, M&A litigation, appraisal actions, and Section 220 “books and records” proceedings
    • Represented Goldman Sachs in FINRA arbitration and related state court action concerning alleged investor losses arising from an investment in a mortgage-related product, culminating in a favorable decision from a panel of three arbitrators
    • Represented Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Delaware Chancery Court in a pricing dispute concerning the terms of a call option to purchase certain company membership units
    • Represented CA Technologies in connection with its defense of claims brought in the New York federal courts concerning a shareholder proxy contest and, separately, a motion to overturn a settlement of class action and derivative litigation on the grounds of fraud
    • Represented Microsoft in appeal in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on plaintiffs’ theory that defendants fraudulently induced plaintiffs to enter into an agreement assigning certain patent applications to Microsoft
    • Represented a pharmaceutical company in the District of Minnesota in litigation concerning the proper interpretation of a bond indenture
    • Represented prominent former director of a Texas state savings bank that failed during the 2008 financial crisis in class action litigation in the Texas federal courts
    • Represented a computer software company in the Delaware Supreme Court – in the first case ever certified by the SEC to the Delaware Supreme Court – concerning a proposed shareholder bylaw requiring the mandatory reimbursement of proxy solicitation expenses
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    Rankings and Recognitions

    Rankings and Recognitions

    • Chambers USA – recognized in Nationwide: Product Liability & Mass Torts (2024)
    • Lawdragon – recognized as one of the “500 Leading Litigators in America” (2023, 2024, 2025)
    • Advisory Board of the Perry Weitz Mass Tort Institute at Hofstra Law (2023)
    • Law360 – Product Liability Editorial Advisory Board (2018, 2019, 2023)
    • AmLaw Litigation Daily – Shout out, “Litigator of the Week” (October 2021; January 21, 2022; January 28, 2022; December 2022)

    • AmLaw Litigation Daily – Runner up, “Litigator of the Week” (March 2020, May 2020, July 2022)
    • AmLaw Litigation Daily – “Litigator of the Week” (November 2020)
    • Law360 – recognized as a “Rising Star” in Transportation (2017)
    • Benchmark Litigation – named a Top Litigator Under 40 (2017, 2018) and to the 40 & Under Hot List (2016, 2017, 2018)
    • New York Super Lawyers – recognized as a “Rising Star” in the areas of Securities, Business and Appellate Litigation (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
    • The Legal 500 United States (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
    • Sanctuary for Families – recipient of Above & Beyond Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy (2013)
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    News

    News

    • S&C Co-Chair Robert Giuffra Jr. Speaks with Bloomberg Law about Recent Win for Volkswagen

      July 5, 2023
    • S&C Obtains Summary Judgment for Volkswagen in Emissions Litigation Brought by Counties

      June 27, 2023
    • S&C Prevails for AT&T as Second Circuit Rejects Shareholder Suit

      December 16, 2022
    • S&C Secures Summary Judgment for Volkswagen in Litigation Over Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles

      July 15, 2022
    • S&C Prevails for Volkswagen and Audi as Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Emissions-Related Lawsuit

      February 1, 2022
    • Volkswagen Defeats Class Certification in Sprawling Litigation Over Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles

      January 24, 2022
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    Publications, Videos and Podcasts

    Publications, Videos and Podcasts

    • The New Proposed Federal Rule 16.1 and Its Implications for Multidistrict Litigation

      Podcasts May 8, 2024
    • S&C Litigators Author Chapters in Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Court

      Books January 18, 2021
    • Supreme Court Business Review: Ford Motor Co. v. Montana and TransUnion v. Ramirez

      Podcasts July 28, 2021
    • Early Settlement Offers and Offers of Judgment in Products Liability Cases

      Podcasts March 9, 2021
    • Crisis Management in Products Liability Litigation: Expectations and Considerations

      Podcasts February 1, 2019
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    Credentials

    Credentials

    Education

    • University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 2003
    • Cornell University, B.S., 1999

    Bar Admissions

    • New York

    Clerkships

    • Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 2003-2004
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    Related Practices

    Related Practices

    • Litigation
    • Antitrust
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Corporate Governance Litigation
    • Criminal Defense & Investigations
    • Crisis Management
    • Employment Law
    • Environmental Litigation
    • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
    • International Arbitration and Global Dispute Resolution
    • Media & Telecommunications
    • Products Liability & Mass Torts
    • Securities Litigation
    • Supreme Court and Appellate
    • Transportation
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