• Bill Butler works with clients to find practical solutions to manage risk and resolve disputes. Bill’s practice concentrates on shareholder and corporate governance disputes and complex commercial litigation, representing clients in a wide range of industries in state courts, federal courts, FINRA arbitrations, and other private arbitrations. 

  • Best Lawyers
    Best Lawyers in America, Privacy and Data Security "Ones to Watch," 2023-2025

Overview

Bill represents business owners, directors, officers, and shareholders in corporate governance disputes, including derivative suits relating to misconduct and self-dealing; claims by business entities against their officers and directors for breaches of fiduciary duties; and defending companies, officers, and directors against similar claims. He also regularly handles complex commercial disputes involving unfair competition and business torts, mergers and acquisitions, commercial equipment leases and sales, trade secret misappropriation, and construction and real estate development.

Additionally, Bill represents financial services institutions in broker-dealer litigation and other financial services disputes in federal and state court and FINRA arbitration.

In addition to his litigation practice, Bill advises clients in privacy and data security matters. He has experience managing data breach incidents and business email compromise, including investigations, reporting, notification, remediation, and interaction with state attorneys general as well as the FBI to investigate potential cyber-crime. Bill also helps clients to navigate evolving state and federal statutes and regulatory frameworks, including HIPAA, FCRA, TCPA, FOIA, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and state privacy and background check laws.

Bill also maintains a strong record in pro bono service. His pro bono work focuses on defending tenants from wrongful evictions through Moore & Van Allen’s Housing Rights Project, which aims to protect vulnerable populations from homelessness. Bill has also litigated civil rights claims under Section 1983 in federal court.

Representative Experience

  • Defeated class certification in a case brought on behalf of more than 700,000 individuals against a national healthcare company alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 U.S.C. § 227).  Murtoff v. My Eye Dr. LLC, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 172280 (N.D. Ill, No. 1:21-CV-02607)

  • Defeated class certification in a case brought on behalf of tens of thousands of individuals claiming various violations and misconduct over a sixty-year span against a subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company. Simpson v. Stonemor GP, LLC, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56779 (W.D.N.C., No. 3:23-CV-00217-KDB-SCR)

  • Successfully represented companies in claims brought in the North Carolina Business Court for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and other corporate misconduct against an owner and officer

  • Defended a Fortune 50 retail company against breach of UCC contract claims by vendor seeking payment of more than $17 million and achieved a favorable settlement

  • Defended an aerospace coatings manufacturer against breach of contract claims by seller in a multi-million acquisition

  • Obtained a significant arbitration award on fraudulent inducement claims against seller of a health care company 

  • Obtained a $10.5 million damages judgment in favor railcar lessor and successfully defended against counterclaims of over $48 million for alleged storage fees of railcars and locomotives
  • Represented and advised a large international bank in numerous antitrust class actions related to the foreign exchange market
  • Represented a large manufacturer in dispute over defects in a multi-million industrial equipment installation
  • Achieved dismissal, upheld on appeal, of claims against a business broker involving the commission on a business acquisition

Notable

Notable

  • Best Lawyers in America, Privacy and Data Security "Ones to Watch," 2023-2025
  • North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society, 2018-202, 2023

News

Blogs and Resources

Alerts

Blog Posts

Affiliations

Affiliations

  • North Carolina Bar Association
  • Mecklenburg County Bar Association

Education

J.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2015, with honors

B.A., Washington & Lee University, 2010

Admissions

  • North Carolina, 2015
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Best Lawyers in America, Privacy and Data Security "Ones to Watch," 2023-2025

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