William Paulk joined Spotswood Sansom & Sansbury LLC in 2008 after completing a clerkship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit with the Honorable Emmett R. Cox. He has been recognized as a top-tier commercial litigator by Best Lawyers Magazine since 2018 and as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers Magazine (2011-2012, 2015-2021). His commercial and business litigation practice involves representing plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes litigation in federal and state courts nationwide, including the following:
- Trial counsel for Florida law firm in decade-long federal court litigation in which an international coal company accused the law firm of alleged RICO violations and defamation arising from the firm’s pursuit of human rights claims against the coal company relating to its mining operations in Colombia, South America.
- Represented nearly twenty physicians alleging minority shareholder oppression and squeeze-out against a national for-profit hospital operator relating to their interests in a whole-hospital joint venture.
- Represented the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation with respect to security fraud claims against investment banks that issued, sponsored, underwrote, or sold residential mortgage-backed securities to Colonial Bank, resulting in one of the largest bank failures during the financial crisis.
- Represented the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation before the American Arbitration Association in a dispute with one of the top five largest banks in the United States arising from the implementation of a Shared-Loss Agreement following the collapse of Colonial Bank.
- Represented corporate officers of a blood-testing company in suit filed by the Chapter 7 Trustee of the company against the officers and directors alleging breach of various duties regarding dividend payouts and allegedly illegal business practices.
- Represented a nationwide insurance company in a putative class action alleging a violation of Illinois law regarding payment practices in first-party insurance policies.
- Represented a national transportation company in an investigation by the California Attorney General’s office into hazardous waste transportation and storage.
- Represented a national construction company in a shareholder dispute with a former executive.
While in law school, William served as managing editor of the Alabama Law Review and, while in undergrad, was selected as a team captain of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s varsity football team. These experiences helped develop critical leadership skills that allow William to manage team-oriented litigation in often challenging and contentious cases.
