William "Zak" Taylor

William J. "Zak" Taylor received his B.A. degree in Economics, with exceptional distinction and Magna Cum Laude, from Yale University. He received his J.D., Cum Laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was editor in chief for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Immediately after law school, he clerked with Judge Shirley M. Hufstedler of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Taylor is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Tax Court; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California.

Mr. Taylor is a trusted adviser and trial lawyer, who was a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP prior to joining Tsao-Wu, Chow & Yee LLP. He focuses his practice on business dispute issues. He is known for his competence in situation and case assessment and the planning and implementation of strategies for successful resolution of complex business disputes. Mr. Taylor has considerable background in intellectual property, class actions, antitrust, unfair competition, alternative dispute resolution, contract, business torts, ERISA, securities, and government regulation matters. He is particularly skilled at addressing business dispute problems on all levels with a special focus on the business interests and objectives involved.

Among the significant class actions Mr. Taylor has successfully resolved is Martinez, et al. v. KSOL (Wild 107 FM), et al., the high-profile “Bay Bridge” radio stunt traffic jam case. Mr. Taylor was instrumental in heading off criminal charges against the station and its parent corporation and in ensuring that appropriate disciplinary action was imposed on the employees involved without alienating them. He was also able to mitigate potential Federal Communications Commission license complications with a legal strategy that resulted in all but one cause of action in the case being dismissed; the securing of insurance coverage to fund a class action settlement; and the structuring of a creative “fluid class” recovery that achieved redemption and a positive reputation for his clients. The solution that Mr. Taylor assisted in developing was to involve nonparty Cal-Trans and to provide capital improvements to the Cal-Trans metering lights and traffic flow technology for the Bridge and two days of toll free commuting for users of the Bridge.

Recent achievements include the successful defense of a class action challenging the use of exclusive provider networks in workers’ compensation treatment and an ERISA pension plan investment class action brought by plan participants, among other matters. In addition, Mr. Taylor has handled some of the most significant antitrust cases of the past 30 years and has handled important antitrust matters in a wide variety of industries. He also has a background in insurance recovery litigation, having participated in the trial of the Flintkote Co. v. American Mutual Ins. Co., et al., in which a declaratory judgment secured approximately $2 billion in insurance coverage. His healthcare knowledge includes more than 200 managed care cases of all types for a variety of industry players, plus matters involving state and federal government contracting and programs, false claims disputes, and disputes with government regulators.

Mr. Taylor’s practice covers not only jury and court trials, but also considerable trial work in complex arbitrations and resolution of complex cases through multiparty mediations. He has taken more than 25 commercial arbitrations to final award and has handled more than 150 commercial arbitration matters. Mr. Taylor also has successfully resolved a variety of appeals, including appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court.

Mr. Taylor can be reached by email at: wtaylor@tsaochow.com.