William J. Beausoleil

William J. Beausoleil is a litigation partner in Hughes Hubbard & Reed’s New York office with extensive experience in product liability, insurance coverage and general commercial litigation matters. Bill is acting head of the Firm’s MDL Practice.

Bill has been at the center of some of the largest product liability litigation over the last 30 years, including currently being deeply enmeshed in the talc litigation, having acted as lead national counsel for a manufacturer involved in federal and state court suits in the opioid litigation, and currently acting as lead litigation counsel for clients in asbestos litigation. Bill remains involved in the high-profile Fosamax litigation, and was critical to the federal preemption issue being presented to the United States Supreme Court, which resulted in a favorable decision for industry. Bill had active speaking roles at all eight cases that went to trial in that litigation, and has also actively defended the New York Blood Center in personal injury cases arising from its operations for over 20 years. He has also played important roles in other litigations, including the Vioxx cases, and cases for Bayer and Pfizer.

Bill also has significant experience in a variety of cases in the commercial context. He has insurance coverage experience, including involvement in breast implant, tobacco and fiber-optic cable cases, and in cases involving complex captive and reinsurance issues. He has served as a federal mediator for numerous Superstorm Sandy cases filed in the district court for the Eastern District of New York.

• Lead counsel for a large multi-national pharmaceutical company in the national Opioid Litigation
• Audit counsel for a defendant facing significant (>10,000 suit) ongoing mass tort litigation
• Representation of Merck & Co. Inc. in federal and state court litigation involving two of its drugs, Fosamax and Vioxx
• Representation of Pfizer, Inc., in litigation involving Fen-Phen and Dilantin
• Representation of New York Blood Center Inc. in numerous cases involving alleged transfusion-related and other injuries
• Representation of Indian hotel operator OYO on its acquisition of G6 Hospitality, the parent company of U.S. hospitality brand Motel 6
• Representation of The Hartford in various insurance coverage matters, including silicone-gel breast implants, pesticides and various other coverage cases
• Representation of Marsh, Inc., in various litigation matters
• Representation of captive insurers in reinsurance disputes
• Representation of various clients in arbitrations