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Biography |
William J. “Zak†Taylor is a lawyer of special distinction. He is one of only a few lawyers recognized as a Super Lawyer in both corporate transactions (Business Corporate Law-2012) and civil litigation (Business Litigation-2006). The Super Lawyer designation by San Francisco Magazine includes peer review input and is limited to the top 5% of lawyers in Northern California. Zak is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a peer review honorary trial lawyer society that is limited to 3,000 trial and appellate lawyers in the U.S. and Canada. Mr. Taylor is an alumnus and former partner in two large top-tier law firms: Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
Mr. Taylor received his B.A. degree in Economics with exceptional distinction in his major and Magna Cum Laude, from Yale University. He received his J.D., Cum Laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Immediately after law school he clerked with Judge Shirley M. Hufstedler of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Taylor is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Tax Court; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern and Central Districts of California.
Mr. Taylor is both a trusted corporate and personal adviser and a trial lawyer. He has a wide-range of competence in both transactions and court cases. Zak is known for his practical and sometimes creative approach to resolving business and economic issues. His practice covers not only jury and court trials, but also considerable trial work in complex arbitrations and resolution of complex cases through multiparty mediations. He has taken more than 25 commercial arbitrations to final award and has handled more than 150 commercial mediation matters. In addition, he also serves as an ADR Neutral as an Arbitrator and Mediator with the American Arbitration Association and the American Health Lawyers Association and a Hospital Peer Review Hearing Officer trained by the California Society of Healthcare Attorneys. Mr. Taylor has also successfully resolved a variety of appears, including appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court. He has considerable experience in class action matters. For someone with a background in two large commercial law firms, Zak has an unusual breadth of experience, having handled a broad range of civil, criminal defense, bankruptcy and administrative matters and a variety of business, trust, probate and real estate transaction matters. This broad range of experience gives a perspective to Mr. Taylor’s work that many other lawyers do not possess. |
