William R. Hill is a partner in Donahue Gallagher Woods LLP with twenty years of experience focused primarily on litigation, intellectual property, commercial law, and employment-related disputes. His intellectual property practice emphasizes copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. He also represents retailers, manufacturers, and purchasers in various commercial matters, and employers in work-related disputes before federal and state regulatory agencies and in mediations, arbitrations, and trials.

Mr. Hill is one of the firm’s chief software piracy litigators. He has prosecuted thousands of individuals and businesses charged with violating copyrights and trademarks, negotiating settlements or filing lawsuits as appropriate. To date, his efforts with those of other Donahue Gallagher attorneys have recovered over $150 Million for software companies such as Microsoft, Autodesk, Novell, Symantec, Macromedia, Aldus, Adobe, along with members of the Business Software Alliance and the Software & Information Industry Association.

His intellectual property practice extends to non-technology companies as well. He has successfully represented a major supermarket chain in trademark litigation over the use of a protected name. He has prosecuted, and defended clients in, numerous cases involving local, regional, and national infringement of trademark rights.

Mr. Hill also maintains an active commercial and employment litigation practice as well. He regularly advises and represents employers and employees in matters related to discrimination, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and wrongful termination. He has defended several multi-million dollar class actions on behalf of employers. He also handles employment-related administrative law disputes regarding hourly wages and overtime, maternity and family leave, workplace conditions, and other employment policies and procedures. He represents employers, employees, and independent contractors in work-related claims of breach of contract and interference with business contracts. He has served as lead trial attorney in 25 non-jury and jury trials as well as numerous mediations and arbitrations. He regularly appears on behalf of clients before federal and state regulatory bodies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Federal Department of Labor, California Labor Commissioner, State Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and the California Public Employment Relations Board. His commercial practice is equally diverse, ranging from simple breach of contract cases to complex cases involving numerous parties and commercial transactions.

Mr. Hill became associated with Donahue Gallagher in 1984, becoming a partner in 1991. He earned his law degree from Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley in 1984. During law school, he externed at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He received his Master of Arts degree in 1981 from Stanford University and his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978 from U.C. Berkeley. He is a member of the State Bar of California and Alameda County Bar Association, and sits on the Advisory Board of Directors of Rebuilding Oakland, a nonprofit organization that rehabilitates low-income housing, and the Oakland Boys and Girls Club. Mr. Hill also sits regularly as Judge Pro Tempore for the Alameda County Small Claims Court. Along with several other members of the firm, Mr. Hill has been named a “Super Lawyer” by San Francisco Magazine, an honor bestowed on just 5% of the lawyers practicing in Northern California.

Mr. Hill is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.  An AV Rating is given only to attorneys who have reached the height of professional excellence and are recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity.