Bob Shaughnessy's practice focuses on civil litigation spanning a broad range of subject matters, including commercial torts, false advertising, contract disputes, class actions, trademarks, copyrights, product liability, and environmental matters.  He has tried cases in federal and state courts and before arbitration panels.

Bob has also argued and had the lead role in briefing appeals in federal and state courts.

Bob was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee.  He received his A.B., cum laude, from Princeton University in 1983, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and Executive Editor of the Virginia Law Review.  After law school, Mr. Shaughnessy clerked for Judge Collins J. Seitz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  He joined Williams & Connolly in 1988 and became a partner in 1996.

Representative Experience

  • Trial counsel for a manufacturer in defense of multiple cases brought by landowners seeking damages for contamination of their property.
  • Trial counsel for a consumer-products company defending false advertising claims brought by a state attorney general.
  • Trial counsel for a scientific instruments manufacturer in arbitration of a contract dispute growing out of an acquisition.
  • Representing a publicly-traded company defending claim that its newly-adopted corporate name infringes the trademark rights of another party.
  • Representing a manufacturer in CERCLA and product-liability litigation involving hazardous waste sites in four states.
  • Representing major media companies in Lanham Act litigation against domain-name speculators.
  • Representing data aggregation company in multiple putative class actions arising from data breach.
  • Representing major motion picture studios in copyright litigation against providers of peer-to-peer file-sharing software, including the MGM v. Grokster case.

Education

Clerkships

Admissions

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