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William R. Bay

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  • Overview
  • Affiliations
  • Civic Involvement
  • Clients
  • Honors

Bill's litigation practice includes more than 30 years of experience in the representation and trial of business disputes. He regularly represents many financial institutions on such matters regionally and nationally. He has also been recognized as a top lawyer in the area of Litigation – Banking & Finance by The Best Lawyers in America®.

He was chosen by his peers to serve as the Chair-Elect of the American Bar Association Section on Litigation. The 60,000-member section is the largest in the ABA and is dedicated to all aspects of litigation, trial practice and dispute resolution. As Chair-Elect, Bill frequently travels to address lawyers and judges.

In his litigation practice, Bill has handled a wide variety of highly complex and document-intensive cases involving lender liability, breach of contract, lost profits and tortious interference.

Bill led the litigation of the following cases, which have been recognized for their statewide and national significance:

•  ITT Commercial Finance et al. vs. Mid America et al., 
   854 SW 2d 371 (Mo. Sup. 1993) declared by Missouri 
   Lawyers Weekly to be the most significant case 
   decided in Missouri in 1993.

•  Ridge Chrysler Jeep, LLC v. DaimlerChrysler Services 
   North America, LLC, 2006 WL 2808158 (N.D. Ill. 
   Sept. 6, 2006), aff'd, 516 F. 3d 623 (7th Cir. 2008)

•  Host Enterprises, Inc. v. Lehman Bros. Holdings, Inc., 
   145 S.W.3d 44 (Mo. App. E.D. 2004)

Bill also has experience in a wide variety of insurance issues, including lawsuits involving complex insurance coverage disputes. An example of these complex insurance coverage cases includes the following:

•  St. Paul Mercury Insurance Company v. Foster, 268 
   F.Supp.2d 1035 (C.D. Ill. 2003)

Bill is active in a number of legal and community organizations throughout the region and country. He has been elected to leadership posts in several local, state and national bar associations, including president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, president of the St. Louis Bar Foundation and member of the Missouri Bar Board of Governors. Bill has been a member of the ABA's House of Delegates since 2003 representing St. Louis. He serves as Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services, which interfaces with national, state, local and special focus bars throughout the country and trains bar leaders. He also serves on the board of FOCUS St. Louis, which seeks to train, promote and educate leaders on regional issues.

American Bar Association
House of Delegates (2003-Present)
Credentials & Admissions Committee (2003-2004); House Select Committee (2008-Present)
ABA Section of Litigation
Chair-Elect
Co-Chair, Marketing & Membership Committee (2009-2010)
Co-Managing Director (2008-2009)
Council Member, Section of Litigation (2004-2008)
Co-Chair, Section Annual Meeting – Phoenix (2003-2004)
Co-Chair, Committee on Corporate Counsel (2000-2003)
Co-Chair, Committee on Newsletters (1997-2000)
Editor, Corporate Counsel Newsletter (1994-1999)
ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services
Chair (2009-Present) Member (2006-Present)
ABA Young Lawyers’ Division
Director Affiliate Outreach Project (1988-1989)
The Missouri Bar
Board of Governors (2005-2009)
Member, Finance Committee (2008-2009)
Co-Chair, Civic Education Committee (2006-2007)
Annual Meeting Planning Committee (2005-2006)
Member, CLE Programming Committee 2004 Annual Meeting (2003-2004)
Chair, Advisory Committee on Citizenship Education (1992-1994)
Chair, Public Information Committee (1990-1992)
The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
President (2001-2002)
Member Other Bar Associations
Illinois State Bar Association
Mound City Bar Association
St. Louis County Bar Association
Women Lawyer's Association
Lawyer's Association of St. Louis
Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers
Court Appointments
Joint Committee of the Missouri Bar and the Missouri Supreme Court on Gender & Justice (2009-Present)
Missouri Board of Law Examiner Grader (2000-2006)
Merit Selection Panels for Consideration of the Reappointment of a U.S. Magistrate Judge (2000, 2002)
FOCUS St. Louis
Board of Directors (2006-2009)
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
President (2001-2002)
Chair, Executive Director Search Committee (2006)
St. Louis Bar Foundation
President (2002-2003)
IOLTA
Board of Directors (2004-Present)
Leadership St. Louis
Participant (1996-1997)
United Way
Priorities Review Team Community Coordination and Public Education Panel (1994-1996)
Chrysler Financial Services Americas LLC
GE Capital Solutions
Textron Financial Corporation
DCFS USA LLC
Automotive Finance Corporation
ITT Educational Services, Inc.
Lyndon Insurance Group
Protective Life
Delve LLC
Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012 (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc. of Aiken, S.C.)
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
Past President Distinguished Lawyer (2008)
President Award (2007)
Missouri Bar President’s Award
(2002)
Volunteer Lawyer Service Award
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (1994)
Missouri Bar YLS Chairpersons Award
(1989)
Award of Merit
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (1986)
William R. Bay
University of Michigan Law School
J.D., cum laude (1978)
University of Missouri-Columbia
B.A., cum laude (1974)
Thompson Coburn LLP
Partner (1987-Present)
Associate (1980-1986)
Chair, Employment Committee (1995-1999)
Chair, Client Relations Committee (2002-Present)
Missouri (1978)
Illinois (1981)