William C. “Bill” Mills IV has joined Gordon & Rees’ Philadelphia office as a partner in the Environmental/Toxic Tort, Construction, Drug & Medical Device, International, and Tort & Product Liability Practice Groups. Joining the firm with him is associate Megan Bailey.
Mills – formerly the chairman of Weber Gallagher’s Product Liability Department – brings more than 20 years of experience representing clients nationwide in mass tort, product liability, and construction actions. He serves as national trial and coordinating counsel for corporate clients in claims of occupational exposure to asbestos, silica, pesticides, lead, industrial adhesives and solvents, paints, welding fumes, and other substances. In his role as national counsel, he coordinates and supervises attorneys in multiple jurisdictions to ensure consistent and cost-effective defense of serial litigation involving various products.
Mills advises and represents a variety of entities in a wide array of complex construction matters involving industrial projects, such as pharmaceutical, biotech, power facilities, and onshore/offshore oil and gas facilities in both the United States and abroad. He has also represented clients in major commercial, multi-family residential, and government projects throughout the U.S. Mills’ litigation successes have included obtaining summary judgment on behalf of manufacturers of products alleged to obtain asbestos; successfully prosecuting claims against a Saudi government company in a $50 million dispute over an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) project; recovering millions of dollars from a German pharmaceutical company on behalf of a U.S. contractor; and successfully defending a roofing subcontractor in a multimillion-dollar claim related to an oceanfront condominium project. In addition, Mills represents defendants in class action cases with an emphasis on complex claims requiring sophisticated expert testimony.
Mills also previously served as Senior Counsel-Americas at Aker-Kvaerner (now Aker Solutions), an international Anglo-Norwegian industrial contracting company. At Aker-Kvaerner, he managed litigation for the engineering, technology, and construction division, which had $2 billion in sales and 9,000 employees in 30 countries. He also served as General Counsel for the residential construction division, which developed numerous communities throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
Mills earned a B.A. from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law - Camden, where he received the Arthur T. Vanderbilt Award for outstanding achievement in the field of legal history. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.