Bart Williams is a highly sought-after trial lawyer renowned for his strategic acumen, meticulous approach, and persuasive advocacy. With extensive experience in commercial litigation, white collar criminal defense and corporate investigations, Bart excels in guiding clients through complex litigation crises and trying their most important cases before juries and judges. Known for his ability to deliver the win, Bart is often called upon just months or weeks before a trial.
A longtime fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Bart boasts an impressive track record of victories in both jury and bench trials nationwide. His legal prowess has made him the trusted trial counsel for numerous Fortune 500 companies across a wide array of industries, providing invaluable litigation and counseling services in high stakes matters. Bart’s achievements have garnered recognition in reputable publications such as Law360, The American Lawyer, and the Daily Journal, which has consistently ranked him among the top lawyers in California. He has also repeatedly been honored as a Top Minority Leader of Influence and Leader of Influence: Litigators & Trial Attorneys by the Los Angeles Business Journal, one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the Daily Journal, and a 2024 Visionary by the Los Angeles Times’ Business of Law.
Earlier in his career, Bart served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of California where he concentrated on complex criminal prosecutions involving allegations of fraud or other business crimes, racketeering and money laundering and obtained convictions in 11 out of 11 jury trials. He received several special commendations during his tenure, including one from the former director of the FBI.
Representative Matters:
- Lead trial counsel for Netflix, director/writer Ava DuVernay, and writer Attica Locke in a defamation case in federal court in New York brought by Linda Fairstein, former head of the Manhattan DA's sex crimes unit. The matter related to the defendants’ series “When They See Us,” which recounts the wrongful convictions of the Central Park 5. The plaintiff alleged that the series’ portrayal of her by actress Felicity Huffman depicted her in a false and defamatory light. We obtained an extremely successful resolution when the plaintiff decided to walk away from the case on the eve of trial, settling with no payment to her or her lawyers and no confidentiality provision related to the settlement. Netflix agreed to move one sentence of the existing disclaimer from the end credits to the opening credits as part of the settlement and will voluntarily donate $1 million to the Innocence Project.
- Lead trial counsel for Monsanto in a jury trial in Philadelphia brought by a plaintiff claiming to have developed Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma from use of Monsanto’s market-leading herbicide, Round-Up. Bart and his team were retained to try to turn the tide on three adverse verdicts totaling more than $2.4 billion in Philadelphia. Bart’s selection as trial counsel in Pennsylvania followed a complete defense verdict he obtained for Monsanto in 2021 in California state court after Monsanto had suffered three consecutive losses in RoundUp cases in that state totaling over $2.2 billion.
- Co-lead counsel in a critical victory for Major League Soccer in the first concussion case filed against the league. The lawsuit, brought by a former MLS player, alleged that MLS negligently failed to implement protocols to prevent and treat head trauma and concussions that the plaintiff allegedly suffered, which purportedly resulted in the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and contributed to the plaintiff’s death. Rather than respond to MLS’s motion to dismiss, the plaintiff elected to dismiss the case with prejudice.
- Co-lead counsel for Sandoz and its subsidiary, Fougera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in In re: Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation, which includes dozens of cases consolidated in an MDL pending in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as well as actions brought by a State AGs in the District of Connecticut, alleging that pharmaceutical manufacturers conspired to fix the prices of and/or allocate markets and customers for certain generic pharmaceutical products.
Updated Oct 2024
