William S. Rogers, Jr. represents a broad array of clients including technology companies, financial services institutions, health care institutions and health care providers, real estate developers, property managers, product manufacturers, distributors and retailers, bid vendors and purchasers, construction contractors and suppliers, and professional service providers in commercial and tort disputes. His representation includes commercial contract and performance disputes, commercial lease disputes, intentional and business torts, data breach incidents, medical negligence and wrongful death actions, products liability and warranty obligation actions, government and internal investigations, and claims under statutory schemes, including states’ Consumer Privacy statutes, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Data Security and Data Breach notification statutes and regulations the Uniform Commercial Code, Public Procurement statutes and regulations, Construction Mechanics liens, Payment and Performance Bond statutes, Unfair Competition and Unfair Trade Practice statutes and regulations, Misappropriation of Trade Secrets and related statutes, State and Federal Securities laws, and related class actions.

In May of 2022, Bill was named a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society composted of less than one percent of American lawyers.  Fellowship is highly selective and by invitation only.  Fellows are selected based upon excellence and accomplishment in litigation both at the trial and appellate levels, and superior ethical reputation.

In November of 2021, Bill was named a member of the Fellowship of the Construction Lawyers Society of America.  The Construction Lawyers Fellowship is an invitation-only, selective and limited membership international association of the world’s best construction lawyers. The composition of the CLSA is aggressively diverse, with recognition of deserving, experienced and highly qualified lawyers across all practices relating to the construction industry.

In a career spanning over 33 years, Bill has tried more than 45 major cases (those over a week in length) to judgments in courts or awards in arbitration. He has litigated over 50 construction arbitrations in over a dozen eastern states, and over 70 securities arbitrations before several self-regulatory organizations. Bill has also managed complex commercial litigations, which often involve injunctive relief to maintain the status quo or to protect proprietary, trade secret, and technology-driven issues involving both closely held businesses and publicly traded companies. His tort representations include complex product warranty and liability cases involving a wide variety of products, such as handheld power tools, electrical and power sub-components, software products, microprocessors and integrated circuits, silicon wafers, and heavy industrial machinery. Bill has also defended a variety of medical specialists and medical institutions in alleged medical negligence and wrongful death jury trials, resulting in more than 20 defense jury verdicts.

Bill is chair of the firm’s multidisciplinary Data Privacy and Security and Nanotechnology Practice Groups, both of which include attorneys from many of the firm’s traditional practices including corporate, employment, insurance and reinsurance, patent, trademark, copyright, and intellectual property law, products liability, litigation, OSHA, environmental, start-ups, and renewable energy. Attorneys in our Data Privacy and Security and Nanotechnology Practice Groups work as a team to identify and resolve the unique legal challenges faced by our clients in these fields. Attorneys in both groups are active in industry forums, conferences, and webinars, are frequent contributors to industry publications and journals, and collaborate often with strategic technology partners for Data Privacy matters in the computer forensics, crisis response, and data breach response fields, and for Nanotechnology in toxicology, risk management, insurance consulting, business consulting, and regulatory and industry standardization efforts taking place both nationally and globally. Bill’s data privacy practice focuses on civil and regulatory enforcement risk management and litigation. In nanotechnology, Bill’s practice focuses on compliance and risk management, pending future nanotechnology litigation.

Bill is a lecturer and frequent speaker at industry conferences and continuing legal education programs. He has published articles in the legal fields of data privacy and security, commercial contracts and warranties, products liability, and on nanomaterial risk. Bill has spoken for six years on the policy trends and the challenges businesses face in complying with the patchwork of global data security and privacy laws at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. Bill also led a program panel on the need to harmonize global data privacy and security laws at IAPP Privacy. Security. Risk 2018 in Austin, TX.

Bill is admitted to practice in all state courts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He has also been admitted specially as lead trial counsel for cases in the state courts of Connecticut, California, Maine, and Rhode Island.

LCA
CLSA Fellow
Best Lawyers
2024 Thomson Reuters Stand-Out Lawyer

Education

  • Boston University School of Law, J.D., 1986
  • Syracuse University Whitman School of Management, B.S., 1983

Bar Admissions

  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • United States Supreme Court
  • Massachusetts
  • United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
  • United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Memberships & Affiliations

  • 2015 – Present: International Association of Privacy Professionals
  • 2008-present: Boston Bar Association, Litigation Section, member
  • 1986-2013: Massachusetts Bar Association, Litigation Section, member
  • 1986-2009, 2016-present: American Bar Association, Litigation, Business, Products Liability and Tort and Insurance Practice Sections, member
  • 1986-2009: Worcester County Massachusetts Bar Association, Civil Litigation Section, member