Bill Grauer, Partner

Bill Grauer is a partner in the Cooley Litigation department. He joined the Firm in 1998, is resident in Firm's San Diego office, and has served as Co-Chair of the Firm's National Securities Litigation practice. Mr. Grauer was recently selected by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the top 100 lawyers in the state of California.

Mr. Grauer specializes in securities and health care litigations, fraud litigations, government and regulatory investigations, internal corporate investigations, and complex commercial litigation including technology cases. He is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer and was previously given the Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award by the Trial Lawyers Association.  Mr. Grauer is one of the very few lawyers in San Diego who has successfully argued in the United States Supreme Court, obtaining a unanimous victory. See Oral Argument.

Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Grauer was a partner at Gray Cary Ware and Friedenrich. Prior to that, he was appointed by the Attorney General of the United States to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney handling Special Fraud Prosecutions in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.

As an Assistant United States Attorney, Mr. Grauer was given special achievement awards by the Attorney General of the United States, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service.

In 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, Mr. Grauer was named to the Best Lawyers in America in the categories of Commercial Litigation, Derivatives Law and Securities Law. In 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, Mr. Grauer was named to the San Diego Super Lawyers  in the categories of (1) Top 50 Lawyers, and (2) Securities Litigation. In 2006, 2007 and 2009, he was named by his peers as one of the "Top San Diego County Attorneys" in the category of Corporate Litigation, as published by the San Diego Daily Transcript. He was also named in 2008-09 by Lawdragon as one of "The Nation's Top Securities Litigators."

Mr. Grauer graduated from the Cornell Law School in 1974 as the Articles Editor of the Law Review and was elected to Order of the Coif. In 1971 he graduated from Cornell University with Honors in Government, magna cum laude, and was awarded a degree With Distinction.

Mr. Grauer has been very active in Bar Association activities:

  • Chair of the Federal Court Discipline Committee for the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, on appointment by the Southern District Federal Judges, 1988-2010
  • American Bar Association House of Delegates, 2008-2010 term 
  • Lawyer Representative, 9th Circuit Judicial Conference, 2007-2010 term
  • Co-Chair IPO Litigation Subcommittee of the ABA Section of Litigation, 2005 - present
  • Former Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association, two terms
  • Former Chairman of the Federal Court Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association
  • Board of Directors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, 1998-1999

Mr. Grauer is a member of the State Bar of California and New York State Bar Association, the Bar of the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second and Ninth Circuits and numerous Federal District Courts.

Education

  • Cornell Law School
    JD, 1974, with distinction, Order of the Coif
  • Cornell University
    BA Government, 1971, magna cum laude

Court Admissions

  • All California State Courts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • United States Supreme Court

Admissions

  • California
  • New York

Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • Association of Business Trial Lawyers
  • Federal Bar Association
  • San Diego County Bar Association

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