Bill Zapf is an experienced litigator and trial lawyer who has represented some of the largest companies in the world and their senior executives in complex commercial, white-collar, and intellectual property matters.

Experience

Bill has deep experience handling all aspects of complex disputes, both civil and criminal, including white-collar matters, government investigations, patent litigation, and appeals. Bill also advises lawyers and law firms on legal ethics issues, and handles malpractice, attorney discipline, disqualification, and bar admissions matters.

Before joining Cole Schotz, Bill was a partner at a Washington, D.C., law firm where he specialized in white-collar, government investigations, and legal ethics matters involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and state and local regulators, including in relation to:

• Insider trading and other SEC matters
• Bank and wire fraud
• Healthcare fraud
• Government contracting fraud
• Antitrust & competition
• Paycheck Protection Program fraud
• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
• Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA)

Bill spent the first decade of his legal career at an international law firm where his practice focused on patent and other complex litigation. Prior to his legal career, Bill was an international trade advisor leading a team that provided economic and financial analysis to help international clients navigate complex federal import regulations.

Representative Matters

White-Collar, Government Investigations, and Appeals:

• Lead counsel for an attorney involved in a parallel SEC and DOJ insider trading investigation.
• Lead counsel for a government contractor involved in a multi-agency investigation of federal set-aside rules.
• Lead counsel for an attorney charged in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud scheme.
• Represented a financial advisor charged in a multimillion-dollar financial fraud case.
• Represented the general counsel of a multinational company in a parallel DOJ and SEC Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation.
• Represented an attorney in a DOJ investigation under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
• Represented a former high-ranking federal official charged with theft of government property.
• Represented a foreign citizen charged with computer ransomware hacking.
• Argued an appeal before the D.C. Circuit of a multimillion-dollar health insurance fraud conviction.
• Argued an appeal before the Virginia Supreme Court regarding expert witnesses.

Professional Responsibility and Malpractice:

• Represented a major retail pharmacy chain in federal and state litigation against its former law firm for breach of fiduciary duty.
• Argued an appeal before the California Court of Appeal concerning disqualification of opposing trial counsel.
• Represented a congressional staff member in an ethics investigation by U.S. House of Representatives.
• Negotiated the settlement of a legal malpractice claim on behalf of a criminal defendant against her former defense counsel.
• Negotiated the settlement of a legal malpractice claim for a hospital services company against its former lawyers for trial errors.

Intellectual Property:

• Represented a global electronic video game company in Section 337 patent litigation through trial before the International Trade Commission.
• Represented a manufacturer of skin graft technology in patent litigation through trial.
• Represented a global electronics manufacturer in patent litigation concerning WiFi router technology through trial.
• Represented a power transmission company in patent litigation relating to electrical grid management software through trial.
• Represented a major pharmaceutical company in patent litigation concerning a statin drug.
• Represented a global electronics manufacturer in patent litigation concerning graphics processing units for 3D rendering on cell phones.
• Represented a major pharmaceutical company in Hatch-Waxman patent litigation regarding a gastrointestinal drug.

Networks and Affiliations

Bill is an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches professional responsibility. He is also a member of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL), the country’s leading bar association for legal ethicists and professional responsibility lawyers.

Honors & Awards

Bill is recognized in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers in America for Ethics and Professional Responsibility.