Bill practices nationally in business and employment litigation, with a focus on complex class action (employment discrimination and wage-and-hour, including California) litigation, as well as high-stakes executive disputes, whistleblower matters and unfair competition.
Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business notes, “Bill Martucci is worth having on any dream team for litigation and policy issues.” Bill is widely regarded as an exceptional trial lawyer and innovative policy strategist. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in both Business Litigation and Employment Litigation, Euromoney Guide to the World’s Leading Labour & Employment Lawyers, Lawdragon Guide to World Class (Most Powerful) Employment Lawyers, and Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers. His jury work has been featured in The National Law Journal. He teaches Multinational Business Policy and the Global Workplace at Georgetown.
Bill was highlighted in the debut edition of Chambers USA as one of the highest-rated corporate litigation lawyers. According to Chambers, the Shook national employment practice group has been "lauded for both its class action work and its effective advice to employers on federal compliance issues. Bill Martucci is highly esteemed as an employment litigator." The Chambers analysis notes: "Bill Martucci garners the admiration and respect of peers and clients for his 'tenacious' litigation skills and 'breadth of knowledge' on employment policy issues. His ability to 'effectively' communicate an employer's point of view to a jury has impressed many interviewees, who also point to his success in establishing a client base that contains a number of Fortune 500 names."
More recently, Chambers USA described Bill as "'a phenomenal litigator and a great lawyer'. . . lauded for his comprehensive knowledge of employment law and expertise in class action litigation." Previous editions noted: "A whirlwind of an attorney, Bill Martucci is a practitioner of great national prominence. Praised as 'the most formidable attorney,' his courtroom style is subtle yet winning. Clients say: 'His trial skills and work ethic are second to none.' . . . Outside the courtroom, he is also an authoritative advisor and educator for his clients." Lawdragon and Human Resource Executive named Bill as one of America's Most Powerful Employment Lawyers. Human Resource Executive reported that attorneys on the list "represent the best of the best, and embody the qualities that HR leaders should look for when picking a defense lawyer." The magazine notes that attorneys selected represent headline clients and have dealt with the toughest of issues currently facing employers.
Working as part of a trial team, presenting and winning cases on behalf of companies before juries and advising corporate clients concerning effective business and human resources practices are the primary activities in which Bill engages. He has successfully tried a number of jury cases and has effectively resolved a variety of class action cases. His litigation docket is national in scope with cases throughout the United States. His primary practice areas focus on complex class action (employment discrimination and wage & hour) litigation, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission litigation, unfair competition litigation and business litigation.
In the traditional labor relations field, Bill has been involved in a number of NLRB representations, as well as serving as strategic labor relations counsel for national companies. In addition, he has served as the lead negotiator or strategic advisor in labor-relations matters spanning single locations to regional and national arrangements. In that context, he is regarded as effective, straightforward, and a strong communicator both with the operational management team and the union.
Professional and Civic Activities
Bill serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. He is deeply committed to the firm’s strategic growth, professional development, and diversity and inclusion efforts. He has been recognized widely as a Diversity Champion and Practice Mentor Leader.
Bill serves as the practice leader of the Shook National Employment Litigation & Policy Practice, representing corporate employers exclusively, and has served as the Business Litigation Section chair and in other firm leadership management roles. In recent years, Bill leads the firm’s Strategic Practice Growth Initiative throughout the United States. During his work, Shook has opened offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Jersey City, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and St. Louis. The firm’s strategic objectives are to attract and retain exceptionally talented lawyers, and to grow consistent with the needs of the firm’s national and global clients.
As a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, he is actively engaged in an online community sharing business ideas and innovative practices for today's global company. He serves as a member of the Model Federal Civil Jury Instructions Subcommittee, which is developing model instructions in employment discrimination and civil rights cases. Bill also serves on the Human Resources Advisory Policy Board of Commerce Clearing House. This national board is charged with the review and identification of trends concerning state of the art human resources policies for the global employment environment. He is also active in Retail Industry Litigation Center (RILC) activities and has served as chair of the Law Center's Mentor Program and Minority Affairs Committee.
Bill is known for his ability to humanize a company and to create crisp, winning trial themes. Although most of his cases are resolved by summary judgment, he enjoys presenting high-stakes employment and business cases before juries. Since the days when he tried cases as a Navy Judge Advocate General in Japan and with the Appellate Division of the Navy-Marine Corps Office of the Judge Advocate General (OJAG) in Washington, D.C., the courtroom and strategic litigation considerations have been a fulfilling dimension of the practice.
