William Northrip

William F. Northrip focuses his practice on defending major companies in high-stakes complex product liability litigation with a focus on legal issues, error identification and preservation, and appellate litigation.

Bill is a creative thinker who develops innovative strategies to best defend against and prevent litigation. He provides superior representation in all aspects in litigation from initial pleadings through appeal.

An experienced appellate litigator, Bill has extensive knowledge in federal appellate practice and procedure and has assisted firm clients in matters pending before various U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bill has been the primary author of several appellate briefs before various state and appellate courts, and he has argued appeals before the Eighth and Tenth Circuits.

Bill’s argument in a significant pharmaceutical appeal before the Eighth Circuit was noted by American Lawyer Daily.

Bill has also worked on several amicus briefs on issues as varied as school finance and climate change, and he has assisted in the preparation of two petitions for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bill has extensive experience with interlocutory appeals, and he has prepared several petitions for permissive appeals and extraordinary writs.

Bill has also worked on all aspects of trial work-up and preparation. He has leveraged his appellate skills at the trial court level by briefing, arguing and winning significant dispositive motions for his clients in state and federal courts.

Before law school, Bill served as a supply officer in the United States Navy.

Education:

• J.D., cum laude, University of Missouri – Columbia School of Law, 2002
  • Order of the Barristers
  • Order of the Coif
  • Best Work During Third Year of Law School, Law School Foundation Prize (2002)
  • West Publishing Award for Academic Excellence (2002)
  • Best Work During Second Year of Law School, James S. Rollins Scholarship (2001)
  • Best Record During First Year of Law School, C. Wallace Walter Prize (2000)
• B.A., University of Notre Dame, 1995
  • International Economics Honor Society, Omicron Delta Epsilon (1994)

Bar Admissions:

• Missouri
• Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Memberships:

• Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers
• The Missouri Bar

Community Involvement:

• Jefferson Club at the University of Missouri
• Kansas City Barbeque Society, Certified Barbeque Judge
• University of Missouri Law Society
• USS Missouri (SSN 780), Commissioning Committee

Clerkships:

• The Hon. J.L. Edmondson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit