attorneys
William C. Wagner
Partner
William C. Wagner
Partner
BILL WAGNER is an experienced trial lawyer, who concentrates his practice on complex environmental litigation, mass torts, and white collar criminal defense. Mr. Wagner's jury trial experience includes defense of multi-million dollar lawsuits in federal and state courts and parallel white collar criminal prosecutions. Mr. Wagner regularly serves as a trial instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA).
Mr. Wagner represented the State of Indiana, IDEM, and IDNR in federal court as special counsel following a massive fish kill along 50 miles of the White River, for natural resource damages, response costs, penalties, and fines under CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, Indiana environmental laws, and NPDES permit violations, with a parallel civil lawsuit and criminal prosecution by the United States.
Mr. Wagner's recent experience includes:
- defeating class certification and obtaining dismissals with prejudice of personal injury and medical monitoring claims in a case involving TCE groundwater contamination and alleged vapor intrusion at a residential subdivision (131 named plaintiffs following defeat of class certification), with a parallel IDEM VRP administrative proceeding;
- representing a car manufacturer conducting the biggest PCB cleanup in the state, with removal 130 million tons of impacted material through April 2008, in connection with a RCRA Voluntary Corrective Action Agreement, a CERCLA Performance Based Corrective Action Agreement, natural resource damages, and defending a parallel mass tort lawsuit by 36 residents;
- defended an EPA Unilateral Administrative Order related to PCE contamination to the City of Martinsville's drinking water wellfield, defeated the City’s injunction action filed in federal court, and defended accompanying lawsuits by residents alleging damages from vapor intrusion;
- obtained a defense verdict in two-week federal criminal trial involving 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, resulting in FDIC's eventual dismissal of a parallel federal civil lawsuit;
- represented owners of a tire recycling business in defense of a criminal prosecution involving six felony counts, a parallel civil lawsuit by the State of Indiana, and a parallel IDEM enforcement action, all prosecuted by the Indiana Attorney General's Office, arising from a massive tire fire;
- defended a telecommunications company in two-week federal civil trial involving allegations of fraud, conspiracy, and over $10 million in damages.
Mr. Wagner has also tried cases involving ERISA, products liability, securities, and shareholder litigation, and litigated patent cases.
