William F. Weld is counsel to the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP. He is based in the firm's New York office, and a frequent visitor to its offices in Washington, D.C. and in Boston. He focuses his practice in the areas of government strategies, corporate and legislative investigations, litigation, and “bet the company” legal crisis management.
Bill joined McDermott in 1997 after serving as governor of Massachusetts, where he was elected in 1990 and re-elected in 1994. In office he was credited with improving the business climate in the state by reducing taxes and regulations on businesses. He served as national co-chair of the Privatization Council and led business and trade missions to many countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa.
Prior to his election as governor, Bill was a federal prosecutor for seven years, serving as the Assistant U.S. Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts during the Reagan administration. He was also a securities and antitrust litigator in Boston for a dozen years.
Earlier in his career, Bill served in Washington as a staff member in both the U.S. House of Representatives (on its 1974 presidential impeachment inquiry) and the U.S. Senate (for Jacob Javits of New York).
Bill is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and served by appointment of President George W. Bush as a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. He is an associate member of the InterAction Council, a group of former world leaders.
Bill is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New York.
Education
- Harvard Law School, J.D. (cum laude)
- University of Oxford (with distinction)
- Harvard College, B.A. (summa cum laude)
