William M. O'Connor is a partner and management board member of Crowell & Moring LLP and chairs the firm's Financial Services group. Bill leads a New York-based creditors' rights team that represents leading financial institutions, special servicers, hedge funds and real estate opportunity funds. Bill is a nationally recognized leader known for his expertise in CMBS special servicing and related aspects of loan workouts, frequently speaking on such issues throughout the country.

He concentrates his practice on creditors' rights litigation, loan workouts, loan portfolio sales and acquisitions, rescue financing, bankruptcies, restructurings, ICC arbitrations, international documentary credits, multinational insolvencies and restructurings, and Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act cases. Bill also has an active international practice involving infrastructure and project finance.

Bill is well known as past editor-in-chief of the Westchester Bar Journal. He is a member of the Creditors' Rights Committee of the New York State Bar Association's Commercial and Federal Litigation Section, and of the professional ethics committee of the Westchester Bar Association. He is an elected councilman of the Town of Pelham, NY. In 2006, he was selected as a New York Super Lawyer®. Bill also serves as a board member for the Galway University Foundation.

Bill is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Western, Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of New York and the Districts of New Jersey and Connecticut. He also is admitted to practice before the United States Courts of Appeal for the Second and Third Circuits, and in New York and New Jersey.

Bill obtained his law degree in 1980 from Fordham University, where he was articles editor of the Fordham International Law Journal and a member of the Jessup International Moot Court Team. He received his bachelor of science degree in 1977 from Fordham.

Memberships
ABA Advisory Panel
Town of Pelham Town Board
Creditors' Rights Committee, New York State Bar Association
Professional Ethics Committee, Westchester Bar Association
Federal Bar Council
Commercial Mortgage Securities Association
Mortgage Bankers Association
Loan Syndications and Trading Association
Trigild

Education
Fordham University, B.S., 1977
Fordham University School of Law, J.D., 1980

Affiliations
Admitted to practice: New York, New Jersey, United States District Courts for the Western, Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of New York and the Districts of New Jersey and Connecticut, United States Courts of Appeal for the Second and Third Circuits

Publications
"Industry Insight: Digital Issues in M&A," The Deal (April 15, 2009). Co-Authors: Daniel B. Garrie, Yoav M. Griver, Anthony I. Giacobbe Jr., and William M. O'Connor.

"WARNings for Firms Facing Layoffs or Bankruptcy," Employment Law360 (January 8, 2009). Co-Authors: William M. O’Connor, Betsy A. Miller and Lawrence J. Brenner.

"Offshore Hedge Funds and Chapter 15: Can You Ever Really Go Home Again?," 4 Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law 421 (July/August 2008). Co-Authors: William M. O'Connor, Matthew W. Cheney, and Noah S. Bloomberg.

Speeches & Presentations
"Commercial Paper Buyers' Perspectives on the Current Secondary Market," Infocast Distressed Commercial Real Estate Summit West (May 12-14, 2010). Summit Chair and Moderator: William M. O'Connor.

"Complex Workouts: Overcoming Obstacles Created by Multilayered Debt Structures," ACI - 2nd National Forum on Commercial Loans (February 23-24, 2010). Speaker: William M. O'Connor.

"Options for Stressed and Distressed CMBS in the Current Market," Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) - Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo 2010; Las Vegas (February 2010). Speakers: William M. O'Connor and John F. Bricker.

"Exit Strategies," Trigild Lender Conference (October 21-23, 2009). Chair: William M. O'Connor.

"Special Servicing in the Year Ahead," Mortgage Banker's Associations Annual Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo, San Diego, CA (Feb. 8-11, 2009). Co-Sponsor/Moderator: William M. O’Connor.

"Credit Default Swaps: Exploring the Controversy-Market Forces, Litigation, Regulation, Accounting & Tax," New York, NY (Dec. 11, 2008). Sponsor/Panelist: William M. O’Connor.

"Current State of the Credit Markets," Duff & Phelps Subprime Summit, New York, NY (Nov. 20, 2008). Panelist: William M. O’Connor.

"Paper Buyers Perspectives on the Secondary Market," Infocast's Distressed Commercial Real Estate Summit EAST, New York, NY (Sept. 3-5, 2008). Co-Chair/Moderator: William M. O’Connor.

"Valuation For Distressed Real Estate Assets," Distressed Real Estate Investing Summit (February 2008). Workshop Leader: William M. O'Connor.