William K. Kane

William Kane is a partner in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm's Chicago office.

Areas of Practice

Bill’s national litigation practice includes complex commercial litigation and advice across industry sectors in corporate governance, director and officer issues, shareholder rights,  media/entertainment, and regulatory issues.  His practice includes client representation before trial and appellate courts, administrative agencies, as well as private mediations and arbitrations. He is particularly experienced in representing clients in need of emergency injunctive relief for trade secret theft and unfair business competition. Bill further has extensive experience advising clients on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030,  having secured one of the first civil claims under the law in conjunction with a trade secret theft prosecution.  He actively represents clients in contract disputes, business tort claims, antitrust, and consumer protection issues. Bill further has experience in Special Purpose Acquisition Company or SPAC litigation.

Bill’s private antitrust litigation experience includes successfully representing a plaintiff in an investigation and litigation in the Northern District of Illinois against Dainippon Screen for unlawful tying claims.  He was also part of the defense team in USA v. Andreas (ADM) criminal antitrust case in the Northern District of Illinois, a hard fought antitrust case which involved conspiracy to fix prices in Lysine, on which the movie “The Informant” was based.

Bill’s media/entertainment experience includes representing clients in relation to copyright disputes and title issues in filmed entertainment, advice and dispute resolution of management contracts in music, rights to publicity, and defamation. He further guides trusts and estates on generational ownership and transition of copyrighted works. Bill represented the Estate of Kevin McClory in resolving a celebrated 50 year copyright dispute involving ownership claims in the James Bond film franchise, the fictional character Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and SPECTRE. 

His government controversy practice includes representing clients in response to state and federal regulatory enforcement actions, including parallel proceedings, Presence Exams,  and market issues related to 7 U.S.C. § 9 of  the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”),  including its application in the Fin-Tech industry.  He further conducts internal investigations for company board of directors and executive management in response to threatened and pending claims.

Bill served in the Illinois Attorney General's office for five years where he represented the legislative, executive,  and judicial branches of state government. His public law experience included state law investigation and enforcement, civil rights prosecution and defense, state government contracting and development, constitutional defense of state statutes, and consumer protection litigation.  He represented numerous state agencies and their Directors, including, the Illinois Department of Banks & Trusts, the Illinois Capital Development Board, the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions, the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, the Illinois Department of Insurance,  the Illinois Department of Labor, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Illinois Secretary of State. Bill’s state government trial and appellate experience included court appearances throughout Illinois in state trial and appellate courts, U.S. District Courts, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and Illinois administrative agencies.

Articles

Law of the Ledger Blog Posts

• "The SEC’s Sudden Impact on NFTs!," September 8, 2023

• "Digital Asset Policy: Aspirations, Reality and Regulation," August 18, 2022
• "Recent SEC Proposed Rulemaking Could Impact Blockchain Trading Platforms," January 31, 2022
• "Tokenization: Opportunity and Regulation, Finding a Balance," October 15, 2021
• "Wyoming Takes the Lead With Decentralized Autonomous Organizations," May 25, 2021
• "CFTC Cryptocurrency Enforcement Receives Further Judicial Support," October 11, 2018 

Media Mentions

Memberships

Member, Antitrust, International Law and Litigation Sections, American Bar Association

Member, Litigation and Corporate and Securities, Illinois Bar Association

St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Advisory Board Member, Center for the Study of Democracy  (2017-2019).

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Foundation Board Member (2009-2017).

Cabrini Connections Tutor Mentoring, Advisory Board & Board Member (1995-2009).

Digital Media