William J. Berger

William J. Berger

William J. Berger is a Senior Trial and Appellate Attorney with the firm. He has practiced trial and appellate law since 1975, and he served as an elected Circuit Judge for Palm Beach County. As a Judge, Bill was assigned to the Civil, Criminal and Family Divisions of the Circuit Court. He presided over hundreds of trials. He also was invited to serve as an Associate Judge on the Fourth District Court of Appeal, where he authored several opinions for the Court. During his tenure on the bench, Bill was designated Administrative Judge of the South County Courthouse. He also was appointed by then-Chief Justice Fred Lewis to serve on the Florida Supreme Court’s Commission of Judicial Evaluations. He was honored with a Distinguished Jurist Award by the South Palm Beach County Bar Association.

As a practicing attorney, Bill has tried dozens of jury trials, many more non-jury trials and argued dozens of appeals. His practice includes trials and appeals in the areas of commercial law, family, business, trusts and estates, land use, partnership, employment discrimination, personal injury, real estate, mortgage foreclosure, criminal, and complex civil litigation.

Bill has taught at Nova Law School (Florida Constitutional Law, Trial Advocacy), Florida Atlantic University (U.S. Constitutional Law, the Judicial Process), and South University (Intellectual Property, Civil Procedure).

He is admitted to the Florida Bar and the U.S. District Court, Southern District, Florida. He was formerly certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit Court Mediator and designated as a mediator in U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission proceedings.

Bill attended the University of Miami School of Law where he was Associate Editor of the Law Review. He graduated the University of Florida with degrees in Philosophy (B.A. with Honors and an M.A.). He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Bill has represented the Florida Bar before the Florida Supreme Court in cases involving unauthorized practice of law and served as Chair of a Grievance Committee for the Bar.