William E. Applegate IV

William is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law. As a law student, he received the Public Interest Law Society Grant to work in Washington, D.C., served as vice-president of the Pro Bono Board, and was a student member of the John Belton O'Neal Inn of Court. Following law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable James R. Barber, III, of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of the State of South Carolina, before starting private practice with Motley Rice, one of the largest plaintiff's firms in the country.

William has represented individuals and companies as plaintiffs throughout South Carolina and the U.S. and has achieved significant recoveries on their behalf. He has experience in a variety of different legal areas and has litigated cases covering a broad spectrum, ranging from Federal Employer's Liability Act relating to occupational disease and catastrophic injuries; Jones Act personal injury; Oil Pollution Act cases relating to oil spills from container ships and oil refineries; products liability relating to unsafe products and unsafe drugs; toxic spills from railroad companies; consumer fraud class actions; commercial litigation, as well as securities fraud, derivative, deal, and misrepresentation cases under the Securities and Exchange Act.

While the majority of William's practice has focused on representing plaintiffs and prosecuting cases, he has been retained as settlement counsel to represent defendants in the consumer class action arena. In addition, he has represented multiple individual defendants in criminal matters.

During William's tenure at Motley Rice, he became a part of Motley Rice's Securities and Consumer Fraud practice group where he focused on litigating securities derivative and shareholder cases. He represented public pension funds and other institutional investors in litigation matters involving shareholder value, legal aspects of fiduciary responsibilities of corporate executives, and mergers and acquisitions such as deal cases. He was involved with In re Dell, Inc., Sec. Litig., No. A-06-CA726-SS (W.D. Tex.); In re Witness Systems Inc. Sec. Litig., No. 1:06-CV-1894 (N.D. Ga.); Baker v. MBNA Corp., No. 05-272 (D. Del.); and South Ferry LP #2 v. Killinger, No. C04-1599C (W.D. Wash.).

As a former small business owner, William gained firsthand experience with the issues that face small businesses and individuals in the Charleston area. William has spoken at various legal conferences regarding environmental torts and securities litigation. He is a member of the American Bar Association and Charleston County Bar Association, and serves as the Environmental Law Section Chair and on the Legislative Steering Committee for the South Carolina Association for Justice. He is fluent in Spanish and is an active participant in various local community organizations. William and his wife Lydia live in Charleston with their two young children.