William P. Mekrut joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. as an Associate in 2004, after having practiced civil and commercial litigation with another Boston firm for two years. Bill’s practice areas include defending medical and legal malpractice claims; representing insurers in insurance coverage litigation; defending individuals and businesses in cases involving construction accidents, premises liability claims, consumer protection act claims, and wrongful death/catastrophic injury claims; and appellate advocacy. Bill has represented clients in state and federal court in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and in alternative dispute resolution proceedings. 

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Bill is an active member in the Boston legal community and has written articles and presented at seminars on various legal topics concerning insurance defense and coverage issues. As a member of the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association, Bill has co-hosted a discussion on risk transfer issues relating to construction contracts and served as a panelist/moderator for a program designed to provide guidance to junior associates. Bill serves in the MassDLA as a member of the insurance coverage subcommittee. Bill has also been an Instructor of First Year Legal Research & Writing at Boston University School of Law.

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During law school, Bill was an Articles Editor for the American Journal of Law and Medicine and interned with the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. As part of the general community, Bill has supported the National Multiple Sclerosis Society including running in—and completing—the Boston Marathon five times, from 2007 through 2011, to raise money for the Society.

 

Practice Areas

• Appellate practice

• Consumer protection act (G.L. 93A)

• Insurance coverage, bad faith and G.L. 93A / 176D

• Premises liability

• Professional liability defense—medical and legal malpractice defense

 

Bar and Court Admissions

• Massachusetts, 2002

• United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, 2004

• United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 2005

 

Education

• Boston University School of Law (J.D. 2002)

• Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY (magna cum laude 1999)

 

Professional Memberships

• Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association

• Defense Research Institute

 

Legal Publications, Seminars, and Significant Cases

• Speaker at the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers’ Annual Meeting and Seminar: The Agway of Cape Cod case and the application of the Mode of Operations Test. May 13, 2016.

• William P. Mekrut and Stephen Coppolo: “Two Recent District Court Decisions From the First Circuit Regarding ‘Interrelated Wrongful Acts’ Provisions.” American Bar Association: Tort, Trial, & Insurance Practice Newsletter for Professionals’, Officers’, and Directors’ Liability Committee. Winter 2016.

• Panelist: Continuing Legal Education seminar for the Boston Bar Association. Construction Law: Surety and Insurance Coverage Issues for Contractors and Design Professionals. May 2013.

• Co-presenter for the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers’ Association construction law and insurance coverage sub-committees: general liability insurance coverage and construction defect claims. February 2013.

• Moderator: Massachusetts Defense Lawyers’ Association “Survive and Thrive” seminar for young lawyers and law students. Suffolk University School of Law. October 2012.

• William P. Mekrut. “Construction Defect Claims and General Liability Policies.”  Reinsurance Encounters, Vol. 30, No. 2, November 2012.

• Co-presenter for the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers’ Association construction law and insurance coverage sub-committees: additional insured provisions and indemnification clauses in contracts. February 2011.

• Musial v. Kang, 2010 Mass. App. LEXIS 171 (Mass. App. Ct. 2010) (Unpub.)

• William P. Mekrut. Article: Tort Based Indemnity, Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association Newsletter, November 2007.

• William P. Mekrut. Ethics Commentary, Court Decisions: Recent Developments in Health Law: First Amendment: Controversial Statements by Anti-Abortion Group Protected. 29 Am. J. L. Med. & Ethics 232 (Summer, 2001).

• William P. Mekrut. Recent Developments in Health Law: Select Recent Court Decisions. 26 Am. J. L. and Med. 479 (2000).