Bill Russell is a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in the Firm’s Litigation Department and Head of the Firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Litigation Practice. He represents clients in a wide variety of commercial disputes including bankruptcy and reorganization matters, banking litigation, securities litigation, and contractual and transactional disputes, and has tried cases in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitral proceedings. His clients include leading financial institutions, private equity sponsors, corporations and other businesses.
He has handled cases involving derivative transactions, residential mortgage-backed securities, secured lending syndicates, M&A transactions, false advertising claims, maritime disputes, Ponzi schemes, apparel licensing agreements and auction rate securities, among other issues. He recently represented the debtors in In re Anagram Holdings, LLC, et al., In re Pyxus International, et al. and In re Arsenal Resources Development LLC, et al. He also represented the Unsecured Creditors Committee in In re Gawker Media LLC, et al. and represented one of the lead creditors in the In re Jefferson County Chapter 9 proceedings that, at the time, were the largest municipal bankruptcy proceedings in U.S. history. He was one of the leaders of the defense group in Adelphia Recovery Trust v. Bank of America, et al. and led the negotiations that resulted in a settlement of that litigation for a small fraction of the claimed damages.
He maintains an active pro bono practice and served as Co-Chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee for almost 10 years. He has represented pro bono clients in a number of areas including housing, voting rights, education and discrimination matters. Bill also co-chaired the Firm’s Diversity Committee for several years.
Bill has served as a member of the New York State Bar Association Executive Committee and is a member of the American Law Institute; former Chair of Legal Services NYC’s Board of Directors; member of the New York City Bar Association Board of Directors; member of the Legal Service Corporation’s Leadership Council; and Co-Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on the Parole System and Chair of its Task Force on Homelessness and the Law, among other public service engagements. He also served as a Panel Chair on the Disciplinary Committee for the First Judicial Department and was appointed by former New York State Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to the Chief Judge’s Attorney Emeritus Council.
He co-authors the monthly column “New York Court of Appeals Roundup” in the New York Law Journal, which discusses significant decisions by New York’s highest court. He has been recognized as a “Litigation Star” in Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation, recognized by The Legal 500, and named in New York Super Lawyers.
He received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Princeton University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Updated Oct 2024
