Meili, William C

Military Affiliation

Bill Meili first served on active duty as a military defense lawyer with the Army's Trial Defense Service in Korea, then transferred to the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii where he served as Brigade Legal Advisor and prosecuted Uniform Code of Military Justice, UCMJ, offenses as a military lawyer and court-martial trial counsel. His last active reserve assignment was as Commander, 2D Legal Support Organization, (LSO), New Orleans, Louisiana.

Education

Bill received his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He studied law and graduated with a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. He then went on for further Military Law studies at the United States Army's Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he became certified as an Army Judge Advocate and Military Lawyer.

Bill Meili is a graduate of the Army Judge Advocate General's Basic and Advanced Courses, The Army Command and General Staff College, the Army Civil Affairs Officer Advanced Course and was selected to attend the Army War College before he retired in December 2007 with the rank of Colonel. He served more than 28 years as an active duty and reserve Judge Advocate.

Experience as a Military Lawyer and Civilian Criminal Law Attorney

Courts-Martial, Administrative Separations and Discharges: Bill Meili has practiced as both a Trial Counsel and Trial Defense Counsel while on active duty and in the Reserves, and as an Administrative Eliminations Attorney, and as an Administrative Discharge Attorney defending administrative separations and handling all manner and types of Administrative Discharges in all service branches as a military lawyer at posts, bases and units both active and reserve throughout the United States, and at overseas military installations worldwide. Bill has defended administrative separations and administrative discharges for alleged misconduct, including positive urinalysis cases, for substandard duty performance, for elimination actions stemming from the loss of or proposed revocation of a Security Clearance.

Bill Meili has also successfully defended pilots being brought before Flight Evaluation Boards for alleged rules violations, misconduct or other adverse allegations, and he has successfully defended both officers and enlisted servicemembers being brought administratively before Medical Evaluation Boards, Physical Evaluation Boards and Fit for Duty Reviews and Boards where the ultimate result could have been administrative elimination from service prior to receiving a twenty-year letter for retirement purposes.

IRR Recall Delays and Exemptions and AWOL Attorney: Recently Bill Meili has successfully represented Soldiers charged with AWOL and Desertion, and he has successfully defended officers and enlisted members who have been involuntarily recalled to active duty from the Individual Ready Reserve, or IRR, and from out of their Troop Program Units or TPU. [See the Case Study Section for recent examples and summaries of his work as both an AWOL Attorney and as an IRR Recall Attorney fighting Involuntary Callups to active duty.]

Defending service members' rights as an AWOL Attorney and as an IRR Recall Attorney, Bill Meili has successfully returned Soldiers safely back to military control and then secured, in most all cases, an honorable or general discharge for his clients. Likewise, as an IRR Recall Attorney for those members facing involuntary recall from the IRR to active duty, Bill has repeatedly and successfully fought to have the member's request for an IRR Delay and Exemption granted, and for a subsequent Honorable Discharge. [ Please read IRR Delay and Exemption Client Testimonial #29 for one of the most recent client's experience with this type of case.]

Memberships, Affiliations and Past Positions of Responsibility

Bill is currently admitted to practice in the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, The Supreme Court of Texas, and the U.S District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He is licensed to handle military law cases throughout the United States and globally.

Bill Meili is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Pennsylvania State Bar, as well as the Federal Bar for the Northern District of Texas. He is a Life Member of the Reserve Officer's Association of the United States, a former member of the State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee for the Dallas District, and a Life Member of the National Eagle Scout Association.

Bill is a Former Chief Prosecutor and Assistant District Attorney with the Dallas District Attorney's Office. Here, he further developed and honed the trial skills he learned in the military as an active duty Judge Advocate. As a civilian Assistant District Attorney, Bill Meili successfully prosecuted major violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated sexual assault, drug offenses, child sexual abuse and child molestation cases. He presented hundreds of felony cases for grand jury review and indictment, and in addition, he successfully prosecuted scores of violent and habitual juvenile offenders through the Adult Certification, or Cert, and Determinate Sentencing, or D-40 process.

Bill Meili now uses the experience and background training he received as both a military and civilian prosecutor to enhance his defense of military and civilian clients charged with all manner of offenses, both criminal and administrative in nature. He is currently in his 20th year of private practice as a civilian defense counsel and military lawyer in his civilian capacity.

Speaker and Lecturer

Bill Meili has lectured before various Texas State Bar and Continuing Legal Education audiences on the attorney grievance process, legal ethics and military law related topics.

Family

Bill is married and has two daughters.