Profile
William E. Eye is a member of the Litigation Practice in Greenberg Traurig’s Atlanta office. Will focuses his practice on complex commercial and appellate litigation. Will defends clients in high-stakes class actions and has defeated certification in putative class actions seeking hundreds of millions of dollars. Will also has significant appellate experience and has briefed dozens of appeals for clients seeking to secure judgments, reverse adverse awards, or create precedent for industry. Will has been recognized by The Legal 500 for Supreme Court and appellate practice, by The Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch“ for both Commercial Litigation and Class Actions, and by Super Lawyers magazine on their “Rising Stars“ list.
Will maintains an active pro bono practice, having represented indigent clients and amicus curiae in appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and in the certiorari and merits stages at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before joining the Firm, Will practiced appellate and class-action litigation at another prominent international law firm. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In 2018, he was one of four American attorneys awarded a Temple Bar Scholarship, through which he traveled to London to work alongside some of the most senior members of the British bar and judiciary.
Will graduated first in his class from Emory University School of Law, where he served as Executive Notes & Comments Editor of the Emory Law Journal. While at Emory, he won the ABA Law Student Writing Competition, received Dean’s Awards in nine courses, and was awarded the Paul Bryan Prize in Constitutional Law. Will serves as an adjunct professor at Emory Law, where he teaches an upper-level Remedies course.
Concentrations
- Commercial litigation
- Appellate and constitutional litigation
- Contract disputes and business torts
- Securities litigation
Capabilities
Experience
- Briefed, argued, and won motion to stay proceedings in high-stakes business dispute in Delaware Chancery Court.
- Briefed, argued, and won motion to dismiss indemnification claim in multimillion-dollar business dispute.
- Briefed, argued, and won 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claim in business dispute between information technology companies.
- Briefed and secured dismissal of multimillion-dollar putative securities class action against investment advisor on SLUSA grounds.
- Represent Fortune 1000 agri-business in nationwide putative odor nuisance class actions; briefed and defeated class certification in putative class action seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
- Prepared Daubert and merits briefing for Fortune 250 company in multi-district putative class action involving allegations of consumer fraud and product mislabeling.°
- Defended Fortune 250 utility company in securities-fraud class-action litigation. Prepared briefing at all stages of litigation, including motion to dismiss, Daubert motions, opposition to class certification, and Rule 23(f) petition for interlocutory appeal.°
- Prepared dispositive motions on behalf of Fortune 250 company in numerous product liability trials.°
- Sought and obtained special action review before Arizona Supreme Court in issue of first impression concerning application of non-mutual offensive issue preclusion in attorney disciplinary proceedings. After merits briefing, obtained reversal of lower court ruling.
- Represented amicus curiae in U.S. Supreme Court litigation concerning the constitutionality of Maine’s “nonsectarian” requirement for tuition assistance.
- Before the Second Circuit, prepared briefing and obtained affirmance of judgment for client in a multimillion-dollar contract dispute between a boutique investment bank and corporate client.°
- Before the Third Circuit, prepared briefing and obtained affirmance of judgment for media clients in a First Amendment case.°
- Represented Fortune 250 company in numerous product liability appeals before the Eleventh Circuit, Florida Supreme Court, and Florida appellate courts.°
°The above representations were handled by Mr. Eye prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, “Ones to Watch”
- Commercial Litigation, 2024-2025
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Action - Defendants, 2024-2025
- Listed, The Legal 500 United States, Dispute Resolution > Appellate: Courts of Appeals / Appellate: Supreme Courts (States and Federal), 2022-2023
- Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Georgia Super Lawyers, “Rising Stars,“ 2024
- Team Member, The American Lawyer’s “Regional Litigation Department of the Year - Georgia,“ 2021
- Temple Bar Scholar, American Inns of Court, 2018
- Adjunct Professor, Emory University School of Law
- Member, State Bar of Georgia, 2016–Present
- Honorary Overseas Member, COMBAR (Commercial Bar Association for England & Wales)
- Barrister, Clarence Cooper Inn of Court
Credentials
-
J.D., with highest honors, Emory University School of Law, 2016
- First Honor Graduate
- Order of the Coif
- Executive Notes & Comments Editor, Emory Law Journal
- Woodruff Fellow
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M.Litt., International Political Theory, with distinction, University of St. Andrews, 2013
- Bobby Jones Scholar
-
B.A., Philosophy and Violin Performance, summa cum laude, Emory University, 2012
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Rhodes Scholar Finalist
- Hon. Ed Carnes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2017-2018 and 2020-2021
- Georgia
- Supreme Court of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Supreme Court of the United States