Taylor, William J.

Mr. Taylor is a partner in the Commercial Litigation Department and the Co-chair of the firm's Construction Practices Group.  Mr. Taylor's practice focuses on surety and fidelity law, construction claims litigation, construction contracting and project administration, and insurance litigation.

Mr. Taylor has counseled numerous surety clients in regard to all aspects of suretyship, including drafting and enforcing indemnity agreements, managing defaults and takeover situations, and defending payment and performance bond claims.  His broad construction experience includes litigating delay and disruption, inefficiency, defective design, extra work, and loss of business claims in federal and state courts and in arbitration on behalf of owners, contractors, subcontractors, sureties and design professionals.  Mr. Taylor has also regularly drafted construction agreements and advised construction industry clients on contract management and administration issues.  Mr. Taylor has also worked extensively with insurance company clients regarding coverage, bad faith, and defense issues.

Notable cases tried by Mr. Taylor include the defense of two American surety companies against multi-million dollar bond claims regarding the construction of oil production and storage platforms in Brazil, the defense of the surety on bond and fraud claims and prosecution of an electrical subcontractor's affirmative delay and disruption claims regarding the construction of a major hotel project in Times Square, New York City, and the defense of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation against contractor's claims arising from a substantial overhaul of the I-76 Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia.  He has also litigated significant construction claims involving the expansion of a casino-hotel in Atlantic City, the construction of a large wastewater treatment plant in New Jersey, and construction on numerous hotels, apartment buildings, schools and condominiums throughout the region.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the National Bond Claims Association, the Surety Claims Institute, and the Fidelity and Surety Law Division and Forum on the Construction Industry of the American Bar Association.  He is also a regular contributor and speaker for the Pan-American Surety Association.

Mr. Taylor received his A.B. in 1979 from Georgetown University and his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center.  He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, Florida and Maryland, and is admitted to appear before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the Middle District of Florida.  Mr. Taylor has been AV rated by the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating system.