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Bill Leonard has been a business litigator since 1979, having worked for seventeen years at Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy and ten years in firms he founded before joining Taylor English in 2006.
Mr. Leonard has served as defense counsel in many securities fraud class actions in several states, representing claims against companies, directors and officers, accountants, and law firms in cases involving alleged market manipulation, misrepresentation and nondisclosure of material information, insider trading, breach of fiduciary duty, accounting fraud, malpractice, common law fraud, RICO, and related issues. He has represented investors, stockbrokers, and brokerage firms in lawsuits and arbitrations involving claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and related allegations concerning listed and over-the-counter stocks, bonds, and options. He regularly represents parties in derivative actions and private securities fraud claims involving numerous investment vehicles in a wide range of industries.
Mr. Leonard has advised special committees of corporate boards, conducting internal investigations of potential wrongdoing by officers, directors, and employees of corporations, including misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty to shareholders and noteholders, misappropriation of corporate opportunity, mismanagement, waste of corporate assets, and related claims. He has represented officers, directors, accountants, brokers, and other professionals in connection with investigations by the Division of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the staff of the New York Stock Exchange, the staff of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and the Department of Justice.
Mr. Leonard has been counsel to parties in litigation involving insurance coverage, restrictive covenants, tax sharing agreements, mergers and acquisitions, computer software and related services, and other business disputes. He has represented shareholders in asserting dissenters’ rights in connection with corporate mergers and asset sales. He has also handled fiduciary litigation in several contexts, such as the representation of employees in litigation against trustees and corporate sponsors of ERISA plans for recovery of benefits and for breach of fiduciary duty, waste, and conflicting interest transactions.
Mr. Leonard has investigated and asserted claims as outside counsel to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation against directors, officers, and attorneys of failed financial institutions in several states. As outside counsel for the National Credit Union Administration, he headed the investigation and assertion of claims against directors, officers, and attorneys of two Massachusetts credit unions, including uncovering the largest real estate fraud in United States credit union history.
Mr. Leonard is a former Chairperson of the Trial Subcommittee of the ABA Litigation Section’s Professional Liability Committee. He has served as a speaker and panelist at national and regional seminars on various topics relating to securities and corporate litigation. He is the author or co-author of several articles published in NASDAQ Financial Journal, ABA Professional Liability Update, and Securities News. He has received formal training as a mediator and formerly served as an arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers.