William R. Moye

Will Moye is what many others claim to be – a real trial lawyer. Will believes that his client’s success in the boardroom depends on his abilities in the courtroom. He is hired to navigate and solve the myriad intractable problems that attach to high-stakes litigation either through thoughtful discovery work or through an eventual jury trial. In fact, Will is often hired to “parachute” into existing litigation, sometimes on the eve of trial, to guarantee the best possible chance of success for his clients.

In early 2019, Will had a stretch where he tried three jury cases in twelve weeks in three different Texas counties – all of which included policy limit settlement demands and insanely aggravated liability facts with admitted fault. All three jury verdicts were returned with amounts well within his client’s insuring limit and for a fraction of what opposing counsel asked for in closing arguments. Will and his team’s dedication through several weeks of trial work and months of preparation resulted in three family-owned companies avoiding collapse from an adverse verdict and staying open for business.

Of course, Will does not win every case. Nobody does. One of his proudest moments came in defeat when, after an adverse jury verdict, the client that lost the case immediately terminated their existing lawyers in two separate lawsuits with upcoming trial dates and hired Will to try both cases in their place.

From his rapid response to the comprehensive investigation to the complex litigation, Will Moye is there for your business as a strategic advocate. He has a wealth of knowledge and valuable insight to manage the full spectrum of regulatory and legal duties that arise for your business after an accident.

Our Incident Response and Investigation team has experience with all types of accidents, such as fires and explosions, spills and chemical accidents, or any worker fatalities or injuries. We also assist clients with preparing for investigations by state and federal agencies, such as EPA, OSHA, CSB, NTSB, and PHMSA.

As lead counsel Will has defended lawsuits involving allegations of product defects in passenger vehicles, vehicle components, tires, tractor trailers, heavy industrial equipment, construction equipment, marine equipment, recreational equipment, oilfield equipment, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Claims have included those for design defects, manufacturing defects, marketing defects, and consumer fraud allegations. Damages have included wrongful death and survival claims, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, full-body burns, and other catastrophic personal injuries.

Clients have included Ford Motor Company, Pep Boys Inc., Polaris, Michelin North America Tire, Fisher Klosterman, and Rheem.

Will’s transportation practice is literally nationwide. Along with representing professional drivers, he has worked for several long-haul, regional, and local trucking companies in the defense of claims made for negligent hiring, training, supervision, and retention.

Will is versed in the FMCSA Rules and Regulations and is a regular speaker on issues related to litigation in the trucking industry and in particular plaintiff’s “Reptile Theory.”

Will has experience litigating premises, products, and negligent activity claims for injuries sustained both offshore and onshore involving platforms, vessels, rigs, and chemical refining and storage facilities. Many of the claims involve explosion litigation.

Clients have included Chevron, Chevron Phillips Petroleum Company, Anadarko, Hercules Offshore, Vopak Americas, TechnipFMC, Devon Energy, Chesapeake Energy, Shell, Westlake Chemical, Valero, and Total.

Will represents Engineers and other design professionals for alleged professional negligence.

Will represents Whole Foods Markets in general liability and nonsubscriber litigation. Will’s practice also includes litigation for Dram Shop/Liquor Liability as well as negligent security cases born from Timberwalk and its progeny.

Finally, Will has achieved the dream of almost every Texas lawyer by being able to represent both the Houston Astros Baseball Club and The Lone Star Brewing Company.

Will is retained by excess insurers to either represent the carrier directly or to affiliate with existing defense counsel in catastrophic injury cases where the excess insuring layer is at risk. Will works for domestic, London-based, and Bermuda-based insurers, insuring syndicates, and reinsurers in assessing the risk and mitigating the exposure in cases that can only be described as “the worst of the worst.”

Representative Experience

High-Stakes Litigation

Represented the engineer of record for alleged professional negligence for the design of an LPG tank complex, terminal facility, and condensate splitter in a $880 million dollar facility to manage and distribute Eagle Ford Shale assets worldwide.

Represented the engineer of record for alleged professional negligence for the design of an NGL processing and storage facility for a multi-million dollar facility to manage Permian Basin petroleum assets.

Defended the owners of White Oak Music Hall in a highly publicized and politicized dispute with thousands of neighbors in a nuisance class action.

Represented the excess insurer in a nationally publicized multiparty fatality accident involving the death of 3 Boy Scouts.

Represented the excess insurer in a nationally publicized fatality accident involving a serious tractor trailer crash in Nebraska.

Represented the excess insurer in a multi-fatality, multi-disabling tragic burn injury matter involving the explosion of a family home on Christmas Eve.

Tried to defense verdicts product liability claims for Ford Motor Company involving wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, and other serious personal injury claims.

Defended an interstate transportation company in a rollover bus accident with 40+ wrongful death claimants and 44 personal injury claims.

Environmental Litigation

Coordinated for Certain Underwriters at Lloyds the resolution of a refined petrochemical spill for Kinder Morgan following a 400,000 gallon release requiring waste cleanup of contaminated soil and water near the Elephant Butte Irrigation District in South Carolina. The claim involved assessing direct and consequential damages to neighboring land owners and short term clean up costs and long term mitigation efforts.

Coordinated for Certain Underwriters at Lloyds the resolution of a refined petrochemical spill for Kinder Morgan’s Plantation Pipeline following a 370,000 gallon release requiring waste cleanup of contaminated soil and water contamination to landowners in Belton, SC. The claim involved assessing direct and consequential to neighboring land owners and short term clean-up costs and long term mitigation efforts for both land and groundwater contamination.

Defeated $89 million damage claim via partial motion for summary judgment for the loss of an Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas well.

Coordinated for Certain Underwriters at Lloyds the resolution of a refined petrochemical spill for Kinder Morgan following a release requiring waste cleanup of contaminated soil and water to Buck Creek near the Pelham Wastewater Treatment Plant in Alabama. The claim involved assessing direct and consequential to neighboring landowners and short term clean-up costs and long term mitigation efforts

Defended the San Miguel Electrical Co-Op for alleged contamination at the 25,000 acre Peeler Ranch and surrounding property due to coal ash waste from the coal-fueled power plant in Atascosa County, Texas.