William “Bill” Shea joined Adams and Reese in 2004 and is a Partner and a member of both the Commercial Disputes and Casualty and Coverage teams.
Bill focuses his practice on commercial clients in a wide variety of commercial litigation matters, including contract and lease disputes, claims for breach of fiduciary duty and general business disputes. He also maintains an insurance regulatory practice, handling licensing and compliance issues with the Louisiana Department of Insurance and other regulating agencies.
Bill has represented commercial clients in matters involving breach of contract, mortgage foreclosure, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, and in matters involving claims for impairment of contracts based on constitutional issues. He also has defended oil and gas companies in matters involving imprudent operations and claims for damage to mineral reservoirs. Bill has represented banking clients in matters involving garnishments, breach of warranty and conversion, and has represented a hospital client in litigation over physician privileges. He also represents insurers in matters including insurance coverage disputes, claims for bad faith, property insurance claims and claims for personal injury.
Bill’s insurance regulatory practice extends to both insurers and insurance producers. He has successfully obtained Certificates of Authority for insurers seeking to do business in Louisiana. He also has assisted insurance companies with other matters involving licensing and compliance, and in preparing contracts between insurance companies, marketing entities, claims organizations, and agents. Bill has assisted individual insurance producers and agencies with a host of issues including licensing, compliance, contract disputes, responding to formal complaints filed with the Louisiana Department of Insurance, and preparing employment agreements between agencies and individual agents.
His other significant contributions include:
- Active in new Associate recruiting and serving as the Summer Associate Coordinator in Baton Rouge.
- Experience as a Senior Casualty Adjuster for a nationally known insurance company — investigating, evaluating and settling complex personal injury and property damage claims and coordinating the defense of litigated cases with local defense counsel.
- Providing critical litigation support to the governmental relations area by participating on several trial teams in which significant legislation was litigated. He was a key drafter of many trial and appellate briefs relied upon by the team as they successfully represented client interests in multiple cases.
Bill is active in the community and serves on the Board of Directors for the Baton Rouge Symphony. He is a member of Most Blessed Sacrament Church, the Most Blessed Sacrament Men’s Club, and the Country Club of Louisiana.
He is also an avid fan of LSU football and basketball. Bill enjoys traveling to LSU football games on the road and spending time with friends. He also spends a considerable amount of time coaching his two daughters in various sports, playing really bad tennis, and being with his family in general. He looks forward to their annual family vacation to Florida each year.
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