Bart H. Williams

Williams has a relaxed, methodical way of defending his clients, an approach that was on display during this summer’s Johnson & Johnson talcum powder liability trial in Los Angeles. Although Johnson & Johnson was hit with a $417 million verdict, Williams, who led his Proskauer Rose team, put on a strong defense.

“The mark of the best trial lawyers is how they react to adversity, both while they are in the midst of a trial and after the trial is over. I pride myself on not getting too high after a victory, or too low after a defeat. Plus, the trial court is only the first stage. It is not the end of the story,” said Williams, who cites Ted Wells of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and Brad Brian of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP as mentors.

“Both of them told me in their own way that if you want to be a trial lawyer on the biggest cases, you are not going to win them all,” said Williams.

It was Williams who secured the company’s sole trial defense win in Missouri state court, and successfully got a case in New Jersey dismissed on the eve of trial after the judge in the matter rejected the plaintiff’s scientific evidence.

Now all eyes are on what Williams and the company will do next. Will they continue to decline settling cases, or will they try and get one or two more defense wins to help gain some leverage for settlement talks? Johnson & Johnson has now lost five out of six trials in Missouri and California state courts. There are more than 4,000 pending cases across the country.

Williams has been spearheading Proskauer’s white collar defense team since joining the firm from Munger Tolles last year.

He’s defended Wells Fargo in a number of cases, including a racial discrimination case, one alleging mismanagement of pension funds and the recent multimillion-dollar settlement the company paid to end litigation over the unauthorized opening of customer accounts. The People of the State of California v. Wells Fargo, BC580778 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed May 4, 2015).

Williams argues that Wells Fargo was victim to rogue employees who opened up accounts as an incentive for extra compensation. He analogized the situation to an airline bag handler who rifles through travelers’ bags. It’s not the airline’s fault, but a mishap by one employee reflects badly on the whole company, Williams said.

— Justin Kloczko