LAWYERS

William P. Butterfield

1700 K Street, NW Suite 650
Washington, DC 20006
202.540.7200 ph
202.540.7201 fax
wbutterfield@hausfeldllp.com
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For several years, Mr. Butterfield has been leading plaintiffs’ discovery efforts in In Re New Motor Vehicles Canadian Export Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1532. He has also worked on In Re Hydrogen Peroxide Antitrust Litigation, (E.D. Pa.), In Re OSB Antitrust Litigation, (E.D. Pa.), and In Re Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) Antitrust Litigation, (E.D. Pa.).

Previously, Mr. Butterfield was one of the principal attorneys involved in nationwide litigation challenging lending practices conducted by one of the nation’s largest sub-prime lenders. In that case, Mr. Butterfield worked extensively with the FTC, and was responsible for generating nationwide media and Congressional attention to lending practices conducted by Associates Finance. Plaintiffs and the FTC eventually settled with Citigroup (which had acquired Associates Finance) for $240 million (In Re Citigroup Loan Cases, J.C.C.P. 4197). Mr. Butterfield was also a principal attorney for the plaintiff classes in In re Prudential Securities Limited Partnerships Litigation, MDL No. 1005 (S.D.N.Y.), which settled for $137 million, and In re PaineWebber Securities Litigation, 94 Civ. 8547 (S.D.N.Y.), which settled for $200 million.

Mr. Butterfield is recognized as a leader in the field of electronic discovery. He has developed electronic document management solutions since the early 1990s, when he helped design and led the implementation of an electronic document repository to manage more than 15 million pages of documents produced in In re Prudential Securities Limited Partnerships Litigation, MDL No.1005 (S.D.N.Y.). That system was recognized by Senior U.S. District Judge Milton Pollack as one of the most innovative and sophisticated high-tech document management/litigation support systems available at 163 F.R.D. 200, 208 (S.D.N.Y. 1995). In 2005, Mr. Butterfield testified before the U.S. Judicial Conference Rules Committee regarding proposed electronic discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He speaks at conferences internationally on electronic discovery issues. Mr. Butterfield is also a member of The Sedona Conference, a nonprofit research and educational institute dedicated to the advanced study of law and policy. His comments appeared recently in an article entitled, “E-Discovery: Business is Booming andLawyers are getting in on the Trend.” Lawyers Weekly, March 14, 2006.

Mr. Butterfield has also served as an adjunct professor at American University, Washington College of Law, where he taught a course in commodities law and regulation. Before joining Hausfeld LLP, Mr. Butterfield was a partner at Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran, where he focused on antitrust, securities, consumer and banking litigation. While at FT&L, he also served extensively as outside counsel for federal banking agencies, where he investigated and litigated claims in connection with failed financial institutions. Mr. Butterfield has also defended individuals and companies in federal courts and administrative tribunals in matters involving securities and commodities fraud, insider trading, takeover litigation, broker-dealer violations and registration issues. He began his legal career as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Montgomery County, Ohio.

Mr. Butterfield graduated from the University of Toledo, College of Law in 1978, and earned his undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University in 1975.

Mr. Butterfield is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and is an inactive member of the Ohio bar.  To email him, click here.