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William W. Watts, III
Member of the Firm
Martindale-Hubbell Rating:
AV Preeminent
Professional Experience
Bill Watts has nearly 40 years of experience as a trial and appellate litigator. With an emphasis in appellate law, Bill has handled numerous appeals in state and federal courts, resulting in nearly 100 reported decisions. He has also focused his practice in the areas of environmental law and litigation and insurance law and litigation, as well as representing clients in a broad variety of other civil disputes, including intellectual property litigation, products liability, banking litigation, construction litigation, and personal injury litigation.
Education
- Amherst College, B.A.; Magna Cum Laude, 1974;
- University of Southern California, J.D.; Order of Coif, 1980
Bar & Court Admissions
- Alabama
- California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit and Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for Southern, Middle, and Northern District of Alabama
APPELLATE PRACTICE RECOGNITION
Lawyer of the Year for 2019 for State of Alabama, Appellate Law (Best Lawyers)
Recent Appellate Decisions
- O’Brien v. Mobile Public Library, 2022 WL 829245 (Ala. Civ. App. March 11, 2022) (reversing trial court’s judgment in favor of insurer for reimbursement of workman’s compensation benefits from proceeds collected from judgment for underinsured motorist benefits)
- Ex parte Mobile Infirmary Association, ___ So.3d ____, 2021 WL 4129400 (Ala. S. Ct. Sept. 10, 2021)(reversing trial court’s denial of motion to dismiss claims for medical malpractice on statute of limitation grounds)
- Mitchell v. City of Mobile, 744 Fed. Appx. 687 (11th Cir. 2018)(affirming summary judgment for client in §1983 action for violation of alleged civil rights in use of deadly force)
- McCants v. City of Mobile, 752 Fed. Appx. 744, (11th Cir.)(affirming dismissal of §1983 action against client for alleged use of excessive force, in violation of substantive due process and equal protection)
- Simpson v. Mobile Infirmary, Case Nos. 1160761 and 1160797 (Ala. S. Ct. August 10, 2018)(affirming trial court’s order granting directed verdict in favor of client and reversing jury verdict of $2,000,000 in medical malpractice action).
- Cleveland v. Mobile Infirmary, Case No. 1160322 (Feb. 17, 2018)(affirming defense verdict for client in medical malpractice action).
- Rochester-Mobile, LLC v. C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., 239 So.3d 1139 (Ala. 2017)(in case of first impression, Court construes the term “lease,” as used in statute requiring recording of leases with terms longer than 20 years, as not including a sublease; reversing a judgment on the pleadings and remanding with instructions to enter judgment in favor of firm’s client).
- Ex parte State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 207 So. 3d 734 (Ala. 2016)(obtaining writ of certiorari on behalf of client from Alabama Supreme Court, which reversed Court of Civil Appeals decision and established new rule of law on application of common fund doctrine to recovery of Lambert advance by underinsured motorist insurers) .
- State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Brown, 195 So. 3d 295 (Ala. Civ. App. 2015)(reversing trial court’s decision against client and holding that insureds were not entitled to UIM benefits for tortfeasor’s liability for $10,000 in punitive damages where they received excess UIM benefits)
- Ex parte State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 108 So. 3d 1008 (Ala. 2012)(obtaining reversal of judgment against client and luring that it was entitled to reimbursement of full amount of UIM benefits mistakenly paid to insured rather than amount less attorney fees).
- Brannon v. BankTrust, Inc., 50 So. 3d 397 (Ala. 2010)(obtaining reversal of judgment as a matter of law against client in action against it for allegedly unauthorized credit transfer)
Honors & Awards
- Member, Southern California Law Review, 1978-1980
- University of Southern California Chapter, Order of the Coif (top 10% law school class)
- Listed in Super Lawyers/Alabama and Super Lawyers/Mid-South Region in field of appellate law
- Listed in Best Lawyers in America in field of appellate law
- Selected as Lawyer of the Year for 2019 for State of Alabama in the field of Appellate Law by Best Lawyers
- Selected as Lawyer of the Year for 2012, 2015, 2022 for Mobile, Alabama in the field of Appellate Law by Best Lawyers
- AV preeminent rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell peer review ratings
- Recognition for 100+ hours of civil legal assistance to low-income residents through South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program
Professional Memberships & Affiliations
- Member, State Bar of Alabama (1983-present)
- Member, State Bar of California (1980-present)
- Member, Mobile County Bar Association
- Member, State of Alabama Appellate Practice Section
Community Involvement
- General Counsel and Board Member, Partners for Environmental Progress (2000-2019)
- General Counsel, Prichard Preparatory School
- General Counsel, N.E.S.T. of Mobile
- Board of Directors, Revision Ministries, Inc.
- Board of Directors, South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program (2008 – 2013)
- Prison Ministry Leader, Loxley Work Release Correctional Center, Loxley, Alabama
- International Staff Teacher, Kenya Ministry Training Institute (Kitala, Kenya)
- President, Mobile Chapter, Christian Legal Society
- Mentor, Big Brother/Big Sister of South Alabama
- Elder, Covenant Church of Mobile
Practice Areas
- Appellate Practice
- Catastrophic Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Construction Litigation
- Environmental Law and Litigation
- Mass Tort, Multi-District, and Class Action Litigation
- Medical Malpractice and Professional Liability
- Products Liability Defense
- Real Estate Transactions and Litigation
- Insurance Defense, Coverage and Extra-Contractual Litigation
Published Legal Articles
- William W. Watts, III, “Uninsured Motorist Coverage Exclusions: A Chronicle of the Alabama Decisions,” 20 Cumberland Law Review 267 (1990)
- William W. Watts, III, “Common Law Remedies in Alabama for Contamination of Land,” 29 Cumberland Law Review 37 (1999)
- William W. Watts, III, “Rule 54(b) Orders: Are They Losing Their Appeal?” 71 Ala. Lawyer 278 (July 2010)
- William W. Watts, III, “The Shifting Sands of Mandamus Review,” 76 Ala. Lawyer 304 (September 2015)
- William W. Watts, III, “The Timeliness of Mandamus Petitions for Review of Discovery Orders: A Trap for the Unwary,” 80 Ala. Lawyer 26 (January 2019)