Bill Katris is an accomplished trial attorney with over 20 years of experience handling complex commercial litigation matters. Bill has represented clients ranging from small business owners to large publicly traded companies to government institutions. Due to his extensive litigation experience on a variety of matters and his training as a privacy professional, Bill is also sought after by clients to advise them on regulatory issues, insurance, and employment matters, as well as general counseling.
Complex Commercial Litigation
Bill has been a vital resource for his clients as a commercial litigator in Chicago, the United States, and in Europe. Clients appreciate Bill’s pragmatic and business-minded approach to complex business problems and have oftentimes relied on Bill’s ability to assess complex litigation issues and assemble the best team to accomplish the client’s goals, both nationally and internationally.
His litigation experience involves a wide range of commercial disputes, trust and estate controversies, and business torts. In his over two decades of litigation experience, Bill has represented clients in matters arising from, or relating to, alleged breaches of fiduciary duties, data usage, intellectual property disputes, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), breach of contract/contract interpretation, commercial finance, product liability, real estate transactions, policyholder claims and insurance coverage disputes, construction defect, corporate raiding, labor & employment, unfair competition, non-compete, restrictive covenant, trade secret misappropriation, fraud, corporate mismanagement, and business defamation issues.
Bill also has significant experience acting as litigation counsel to international and national companies managing their multi-jurisdictional and international litigation. Bill has represented clients in hundreds of trials, arbitrations, and mediations during his career.
General Counseling – Regulatory Advisor – Corporate Governance
With his extensive litigation experience, Bill has also proved to be an invaluable asset in counseling companies and individuals that seek to assess, manage, and/or eliminate potential liability risks. He regularly advises clients on how to avoid and/or resolve highly sensitive “business divorces” and contract and shareholder disputes, as well as other complicated matters prior to the initiation of litigation.
Bill is committed to Chicago’s Tech Community and acts as outside general counsel to several SaaS/SaaP technology companies and he is involved in Privacy by Design for their respective products as well as creating, implementing, and modifying their respective data privacy and cybersecurity practices. Bill not only provides clients with strategic counseling on traditional corporate governance, insurance, and employment matters, but also on issues arising from the collection, use, sharing, and security of data. He also advises on compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), BIPA, the TCPA, and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) requirements, as well as other related state and federal regulations.
Bill further assists clients in evaluating the impact of privacy laws as well as other industry-specific laws and regulations on their products, contracts, and/or business practices in order to assist clients with compliance programs as well as policies and procedures to avoid or mitigate enforcement actions.
Bill has the strategic insight and ability to interpret and explain a wide array of legal regulations for clients in various industries and sectors in a straightforward and non-legalese manner. Consequently, Bill regularly meets with C-suite and client boards to explain and discuss the impact of laws on business practices and, when needed, potential solutions for existing business practices.
Bill is regularly involved in overseeing employment and corporate investigations for clients in a wide range of industries and in both the private and public sectors. Bill also has experience interacting and engaging with government regulators in order to resolve and remediate potential conflicts and/or claims.
Outside the Firm
Bill enjoys spending time with his wife and three daughters. He is a closet “ancient societies” historian as well as a yet-to-be awarded Michelin star home chef and unseeded world platform tennis (“paddle” not “pickleball”) player.
Bill and his family are avid supporters of Stanford Children’s Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for their outstanding contributions in the field of gene therapy as well as the cure and treatment of blood disorders and pediatric cancers.