William C. Roeger Jr.

William Roeger is a partner in the firm's Litigation Department who has tried cases in Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Monroe, Luzerne, Berks and Chester Counties. His distinguished career includes a substantial amount of motor vehicle, real estate, commercial, personal injury and orphan's court litigation. Bill's prior experience as a corporate attorney, when coupled with his science background and problem-solving approach, has led him to the position of general counsel of a number of mid-sized firms. In this capacity, Bill advises the clients in a wide variety of areas and handles the litigation matters that those companies have.

Bill began his legal career drafting legislation for the Legislative Reference Bureau, which is part of the Pennsylvania Legislature. Upon graduation from law school, he took a position as part of the Corporate Law Department of the Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., handling a wide variety of legal matters. After approximately six months, and particularly in view of his physics background, he was selected as lead counsel on the billion dollar nuclear power plant that was being built by PP&L at the time.

Bill has been an active member of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association (now called the Pennsylvania Association for Justice) throughout his career serving on its Board of Governors since 1980 and spending approximately 20 years on its Executive Committee. Bill is also a member of the American Bar Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association (now the American Association for Justice), the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and the Bucks County Bar Association. Bill has been a member of the Perkasie (Bucks County) Rotary Club since 1975 and has served as President of that organization. Very involved in local politics, Bill served on the Bucks County Republican Executive Committee from 1978 through 1995.

Bill received his undergraduate degree in Physics from Muhlenberg College in 1969. Thereafter, he was a Distinguished Graduate from the United States Air Force Officer Training School in 1970. He received his law degree from the Dickinson School of Law (now part of Pennsylvania State University) in 1973.

Recent Representative Cases:

Automotive/Personal Injury Litigation
*  Regularly handle cases where liability is established through accident reconstruction, including trucking cases and multi-car collisions. In one notable case, Bill represented a decedent passenger in a vehicle which turned left in front of an oncoming tractor trailer. While the liability of the turning driver was obvious, Bill was able to establish that the accident was, at least in part, caused by a perception delay by the operator of the tractor trailer, resulting in a settlement of $800,000.

*  In one trucking case, Bill represented the driver of a small pickup truck which was stopped on a wet roadway, waiting to turn left when it was struck in the rear at a slow speed of approximately 10 to 15 miles per hour. The stopped driver (Plaintiff) claimed serious injuries and multiple surgeries as a result of the impact. The defense admitted all liability for the happening of the accident, but denied all liability for any of the injuries allegedly suffered by the Plaintiff driver. Through the use of some creative approaches, Bill was able to achieve a settlement of $1.5 million.

*  In a complex multi-car crash, Bill represented a seriously injured passenger in what initially appeared as a two-vehicle collision. Using accident reconstruction techniques, Bill was able to establish that a third vehicle was involved in racing against the striking vehicle at the time of the accident and that the accident was triggered by a fourth vehicle improperly pulling out, causing the mechanism of the collision.

*  One night, two cars, carrying a combined nine high school age children, collided head on.  Seven of the occupants presented injury claims.  Bill represented four of them in successfully navigating the various coverage issues involving the tender of the policy limit of the at fault driver and the multiple levels of underinsured motorist coverages.  In this same case, Bill used a multi-media presentation to address the various damage issues, including facial scarring.

*  What do you do when your client dies in a collision after having driven onto the wrong side of the road and isn't there to explain why?  Bill was able to establish through investigative techniques, coupled with an accident reconstruction, that the decedent was forced onto the wrong side of the road and into a head-on collision that killed her by a man who had improperly turned left in front of her.

*  Represented a high-income individual who was struck from the rear, but experienced a mild closed-head trauma in the accident, which in turn affected his ability to earn income. In a county known for low jury awards, Bill used creative techniques to resolve the matter for $850,000.
          -The problem in this case was to get a jury to feel sympathy for a person who previously earned up to $500,000./year, but now could only earn $150,000./year.  Bill's case theme and opening statement was that this case was about a half an inch.  He later explained that a half inch in baseball was the difference between going to the Hall of Fame and never getting out of Triple A.

*  Tried various cases involving RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or, as it is now known, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome). In one case of note where liability was not the issue, Bill rejected the defendant's offer of $15,000 and the Judge's recommendation of $75,000 and tried the case to a verdict of $285,000.

*  Represented a high net worth individual who had shot and killed one of his employees while hunting in Bradford County. The employee's estate was represented by one of the nationally premier personal injury firms. The settlement demand was in excess of $5 million. After various transfers of venue, the case lodged in the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Bill was brought in as lead trial counsel. Bill employed various creative ways to graphically disprove plaintiff's theory of liability, resulting in a settlement on the eve of trial of approximately $100,000.

*  In a premises liability case, Bill represented a woman who fell down an exterior staircase and fractured her ankle.  The defense argued that it was the woman's own fault not the fault of the staircase or its owner.  Using both an engineer and a human factors expert, Bill established that the staircase indeed had multiple defects which caused the woman to misstep and then be unable to recover, resulting in her fall and injuries.  The Arbitrator trying the case returned a substantial verdict for Bill's client and found her free from any comparative negligence.

Commercial Litigation
*  Involved in litigating numerous cases concerning covenants not to compete, representing either the company or the individuals involved. In one particular case, Bill became involved early and was able to establish the case using e-mails left on the company-owned computer system, as well as the company-owned cell phones.

*  Represented employers in embezzlement cases.  In several separate and unrelated cases, accounting firms and other law firms who discovered that their clients were the victims of major embezzlement have brought Bill in to assist the company and then aggressively pursue the embezzler to recover funds. In one case, Bill was brought in to frustrate an extortion case.  He then worked with the FBI to see that the individual was brought to justice.

*  In a wide variety of business break-up cases, varying from typical family businesses to multi-physician practices, Bill has been brought in to resolve and, as necessary, litigate the issues to a successful conclusion.  In one particular case, Bill was brought in as special trial counsel to represent one side in a very contentious family business break-up litigation, where one side challenged that the other side had committed fraud when they forced a buyout of the other's interest. Largely through Bill's efforts, this long-standing dispute was resolved by the withdrawal of the case by the other side.

*  In this age of concern about international terrorism, Bill was brought in to represent a foreign born American citizen/businessman who was the subject of a plot to extort a considerable amount of money.  The bad guy claimed to be working for the CIA and stated that he could block an alleged CIA investigation into him if he paid.  Over the next year, Bill worked with the FBI on behalf of his client to bring this perpetrator to justice.

Real Estate Litigation
*  Involved in various types of real estate litigation matters, involving lease provisions, common area maintenance charge calculations, and claims against architects. In one particular matter, Bill brought litigation against a major architectural firm for its mismanagement of a project.

Orphans' Court Litigation
*  Represented the mother of a deceased infant child, who sought to be named Administratrix of the child's estate for the purpose of pursuing the personal injury litigation. The decedent's father had also sought to be named Administrator of the child's estate. The matter proceeded through a hearing before the Register of Wills and eventually a full trial before the Orphans' Court Judge, resulting in a reported opinion in Bill's client's favor.

Miscellaneous Litigation
*  Pennsylvania has a statute entitled Wrongful Use of Civil Proceedings which is designed to discourage what some people call frivolous lawsuits. Bill has handled a variety of such cases and has been used as an expert in one such case.

*  While criminal cases can often be mundane, especially those involving claims of drunk driving, that is not always the case. Two individuals were up all night working on putting a new engine in a high-performance car. In the morning, after the engine was installed and had been warmed up, the two took the car out for a short ride to check out the engine. Less than a mile down the road, the car crashed at a high speed and the passenger was killed and the driver injured. The driver, who was amnesic as to the events, was charged with homicide by vehicle/DUI related a serious charge. Bill was brought in to try the case. After conducting a thorough investigation as to the history of the car and its components, Bill tried the case as a products liability case in a criminal setting and used various automotive experts. He was able to establish to the jury's satisfaction that the accident was caused by a frayed throttle cable, which had stuck wide open and caused the car to accelerate out of control. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

Speeches/Publications:

Frequent Lecturer, Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association/Pennsylvania Association for Justice and the American Law Institute/American Bar Association (ALL/ABA) and others.

• How to Recognize and Prove Minor Closed Head Injuries
• Successfully Litigating the Auto Accident
• The Settlement Process from the Plaintiff's Perspective
• The Settlement Process from the Defendant's Perspective
• Record Retention and Destruction
• Sex, Drugs, and Rock N Roll
• Discovery of Financial Records of Experts
• Discovery Items you may have missed
• Inexpensive Discovery on the Internet
• Auto Law Ethics Issues
• Recognizing the Unobvious Conflicts in Motor Vehicle Cases
• Proving Hidden Damages
• Nuggets in Handling Truck Accident Cases
• Releases Landmines in Waiting
• Inexpensive Experts
• Auto Law Strategies
• Discovery Strategies
• Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Trial Lawyer The Plaintiff's Perspective
• Liability Gems and What Rocks They Hide Under
• Auto Law Practice Gems & Ethical Concerns
• New Joint and Several Liability Law in Auto Cases

Professional and Civic Memberships:

• Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association/Pennsylvania Association for Justice
  • Board of Governors, 1980-present
  • Executive Committee
  • Comptroller, 1991 - 2003
• American Bar Association
• American Trial Lawyers Association/American Association for Justice
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Bucks County Bar Association
• Peace Lutheran Church
• Perkasie (Bucks County) Rotary Club, 1975 - Present
• Perkasie (Bucks County) Rotary Club 
  • President
• Bucks County Republican, 1978 - 1995
  • Executive Committee

Honors and Awards:

• Recipient of Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Special Service Award (2003)
• Recipient of Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Milton Rosenberg Award (1997)
• Who's Who in Practicing Attorneys (1990)
• Who's Who in American Law
• Community Leaders of America Award for Outstanding Service to the Legal Profession
• International Directory of Distinguished Leadership
• American Biographical Institute Man of the Year (1990)

Personal Interests:

Weight Lifting; Scuba Diving; Architecture & Design (1st Place in Better Homes & Gardens Design Contest)