Lawyer Bio : William M. Ragland, Jr.

William M. Ragland, Jr.

"Bill"

Atlanta

Bill Ragland is among the firm’s most experienced lead litigators and trial lawyers, concentrating his practice on complex business litigation and intellectual property litigation. 
 
Relevant Experience

  • Bill’s trial practice focuses on disputes regarding patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, software implementation, performance and system integration, non-competition agreements, Internet and e-commerce, intellectual property and technology licenses, co-development of technology, false advertising, unfair competition and insurance coverage for intellectual property. He has tried cases before juries and judges in numerous jurisdictions and has successfully represented clients in cases of national importance. Bill also has substantial experience litigating a wide variety of other types of business disputes, including those involving commercial contracts, partnerships and closely held companies, product liability, insurance coverage, defamation and real estate matters.
  • He has litigated over 50 patent infringement and other patent-related cases in his 25 year career.  
  • As a leading technology lawyer, he also provides strategic advice regarding the structure, negotiation and implementation of intellectual property enforcement and licensing programs and portfolio management services. In 2009, Bill was named as one of the top 250 intellectual property strategists in the world by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine. He has been featured in Corporate Counsel magazine, IP Law & Business magazine and Business to Business magazine regarding leaders in innovative intellectual property enforcement and licensing programs. He also has been featured in "Big Deals" in IP Law & Business regarding his representation in license agreements with major technology companies. Bill has assisted numerous clients in maximizing the value of their intellectual property and technology assets.
  • Bill has participated in numerous internal investigations for telecommunications, software, paper products companies and auditing firms.
  • Bill’s clients have included numerous computer/ software, telecommunications and other high technology companies, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life sciences companies, major paper products, chemical and manufacturing companies, financial institutions as well as major record, music and entertainment companies and well known entertainers.
  • In 2004 - 2005, Bill served as President of the Atlanta Bar Association, the largest voluntary bar association in the Southeast with over 6,200 members. He also completed his term as Immediate Past President and as a member of the Executive Committee. Bill is the co-founder and past Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. Bill also served as Co-Chair of the Sponsorship Committee and Co-Chair of the Memorial Fund for families of the victims of the March 11, 2005 Fulton County, Georgia Courthouse shootings. Prior to his presidency, he was a past Co-Chair of its Lawyer Referral and Information Service; Chair of the Association's Continuing Legal Education Board of Trustees; Chair of the Litigation Section; past Chair of the Pro Bono Committee; Co-Chair of its Sponsorship Committee; Member of its Community Outreach Committee; and Member-at-Large of its Board of Directors and Member of its Executive Committee. He also held the positions of Secretary, Second Vice President, and First Vice President/President-elect before becoming President of the Association. He was a founder of the Children's Drug Education Program, a project of the Atlanta Bar Association.
  • He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia.
  • Bill is the current President of the Atlanta Bar Foundation.
  • Bill was selected by the judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to serve as a Board Director of the U.S. District Court Federal Defender Program and its Court Relations Committee, as a Member of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Bar Council and as a Member of that Court's Disciplinary Committee. He is also a Member of the Planning Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States for the Eleventh Circuit, and a current Master of the Bench and former Barrister of the Logan E. Bleckley American Inn of Court. Bill is a frequent speaker on intellectual property and litigation topics.

Additional Biography Info

Click on the headings below to view details

Close

Professional Activities

Bar Associations: State Bar of Georgia; Member, Board of Governors, 2007 to present; Member, Intellectual Property Law Section; Founding Member, Products Liability Section; American Bar Association, Litigation Section and Intellectual Property Law Section; District of Columbia Bar; Georgia Supreme Court; Georgia Court of Appeals; U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeal (Fed. Cir., 11th Cir.); U.S. District Courts (N.D. Ga., M.D. Ga.; N.D. Cal., E.D. Wis., W.D. Wis., and E.D. Tex.).
 
Admitted to the bar: 1986, GA; 1987, District of Columbia.
 
Other Civic and Professional Activities

  • Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Past Board Director.
  • Atlanta Bar Foundation, Secretary - Treasurer (2008 - present); Board Directors (2004 - present); Charter Lifetime Fellow;
  • Atlanta Youth Academy, Foundation Board Director (2006 – present); Vice President for Governance and Leadership (2008 - present);
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association, Member;
  • Federal Circuit Bar Association, Member;
  • Licensing Executives Society, Member;
  • Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, Fellow and past Member, Focus Committee;
  • Leadership Atlanta, Member of Class of 2007;
  • Atlanta City Council City Code Review Team, Past Member;
  • High Museum of Art, Atlanta Georgia, Wine Auction Committee Member;
  • Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Member;
  • Old War Horse Lawyers Club, Second Vice President;
  • Smithsonian Institution, Member, National Board, 2006 – present; Member, Executive Committee of National Board, 2007 – present; Co-Chair, Smithsonian Across America Committee of National Board, 2007 – present.

Education

J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 1986; Senior Editor, Journal of Law & Politics; Law School Representative to University Student Council;
 
A.B., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1982; Phi Beta Kappa; Phi Eta Sigma;
 
Diploma, Woodberry Forest School, 1978; cum laude.

Prior Legal Experience

Partner, Hunton & Williams LLP, Atlanta, 2003-2007, Litigation and Intellectual Property Team;
 
Partner, Powell Goldstein Frazer & Murphy LLP (now known as Bryan Cave, LLP), Atlanta, 1995-2003; Chair, Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group, 2001-2003.

Additional Information

Honors and Awards
 
  • Named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" in Business Litigation, as published in Best Lawyers in America, 2005, 2006 and 2007 editions; in Business Litigation and Intellectual Property, 2008 and 2009 editions; and in Business Litigation, Intellectual Property and Technology Law, 2010 and 2011 editions.
  • Named to the Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Magazine’s 250 – the World’s Leading IP Strategists.
  • Named one of "Georgia's Legal Elite," a listing of the state's "most effective lawyers," for Intellectual Property and Business Litigation, selected by Georgia attorneys and published in Georgia Trend Magazine, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
  • Named a Super Lawyer, as published in Atlanta Magazine and Georgia Super Lawyers magazine, 2004 - 2011 (Top 100 Attorneys in Georgia).
  • Named a Leading Lawyer recommended in intellectual property in Chambers USA Clients Guide, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions and in intellectual property and commercial litigation in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions.
  • Fellow, American Bar Foundation.
  • Achieved the highest rating in Martindale-Hubbell peer review service.
  • Listed, Who's Who in Law and Accounting, Atlanta Business Chronicle, August 2004 and 2005.
  • Listed, Guide to Leading U.S. Litigation Lawyers, published by Legal Media Group Expert Guides, 2006 and 2007.
  • Committee of the Year Award, Atlanta Bar Association, for Lawyer Referral & Information Service, 2003 (William M. Ragland, Jr., Co-Chair).
  • 2005 President's Cup and 2005 Award of Merit, State Bar of Georgia, awarded to Atlanta Bar Association for Best Overall Voluntary Bar Association (William M. Ragland, Jr., President).