William C. Haggerty is Of Counsel at Behar | Gibbs | Savage | Paulson LLP and a highly experienced trial attorney with a career spanning decades in civil defense litigation. He began practicing law in 1977 and became a partner at Shield and Smith in 1983. He later co-founded Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar in 1991.
He has tried more than 100 cases to verdict and maintains a focus on medical malpractice defense as well as First Amendment and defamation matters. He is also frequently involved in high-profile defense litigation.
William has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates since 1984 and served as President of the Orange County Chapter in 2022. He was awarded the Joseph McNeil Civility Award in 2016 and was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2014. He is also a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, and has been recognized on the Super Lawyers list since 2015 and the America’s Best Lawyers list since 2019.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts with Honors from Brown University and his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Santa Clara School of Law.