William E. Gericke

Of Counsel

: Philadelphia
One Liberty Place
1650 Market Street
Suite 2800
Philadelphia, PA 19103
P: (215) 665-2146
TF: (800) 523-2900
F: (215) 701-2146

William E. Gericke

William E. Gericke focuses his practice on the prosecution of complex fire, construction defect, product liability and water damage cases. He also serves as conflicts counsel to the firm. In this role, he analyzes new business to identify potential conflicts and facilitates their resolution in accordance with the rules of professional conduct.

Bill is admitted in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. Bill has successfully tried cases in state and federal courts throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, as well as Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Puerto Rico by way of pro hac vice admission.

Bill is certified by the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to serve as an arbitrator for cases in the Common Pleas Court. He is a frequent lecturer on subrogation related topics and the prosecution of fire, construction defect and product liability claims. He sits on the Professional Guidance Committee for the Philadelphia Bar Association and is a member of the American, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia bar associations as well as the National Fire Protection Association.

Bill earned his Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College in 1984 and his law degree from Rutgers University in 1993 where he received the American Jurisprudence Award for Business Organizations.

Experience

Secured a unanimous jury verdict in federal court in excess of $850,000 on behalf of an insurance company client as subrogee of a husband and wife whose home was severely damaged in a fire when an in-ground landscaping lighting system designed, installed, and maintained by the defendants catastrophically failed due to the defendants' negligence, thereby causing a fire at the home. The jury verdict was one of the top 50 Plaintiff's verdicts in New Jersey in 2017.

Secured a unanimous jury verdict in federal court on behalf of a client, and his insurance company, whose home was severely damaged in a fire when a hot and cold water dispenser designed, manufactured, and sold by the defendant catastrophically failed due to the product’s poor design and improper manufacture. Prior to trial, the defendant had taken a no-pay position and claimed it had not manufactured the water dispenser. Defense counsel requested the trial be bifurcated for liability and damages and advised the court that if the jury found in favor of the client, the defendant would settle the case. Even after the jury found for our clients, Bill had to mediate the damages portion of the case after the defendant retained new counsel to defend that aspect of the matter. The case finally settled for $800,000, which represented 100 percent of the clients’ damages plus a portion of the pre-judgment interest.

Secured a unanimous jury verdict in Florida state court for $1.1 million on behalf of an insurance company client as subrogee of a management company that owned a polo team and a stable of professional polo horses which were fatally poisoned by a supplement during a 2009 polo championship tournament. The horses died during the U.S. Open polo championship in Wellington, Fla. after receiving the supplement that contained 100 times the Selenium originally prescribed by the team’s veterinarian. The supplement was prepared at a well-known compounding pharmacy in Wellington. The jury found that the compounding pharmacy and its pharmacist-in-charge were responsible for the deaths for negligently producing the supplement and failing to discover the error before the horses were injected. In addition to being a prime example of how to break down complex science for a jury of laypeople, the trial also touched on the emerging issue of liability for compound pharmacies that make custom-order drugs, which some watchdogs have said deserve greater scrutiny from the FDA due to public safety concerns. The jury verdict was one of the top 10 Plaintiff’s verdicts in Florida in 2016.

Publications

Mobile Device Discovery [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

February 18, 2015

Smartphones and tablets have radically transformed the practice of law in recent years. People are using their mobile devices more frequently today for both business and their personal lives than ever before. However, for many litigators, mobile device discovery remains an unexplored frontier. The...

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

September 22, 2014

With the explosion of the Internet over the past 20 years, some practitioners would say it was only a matter of time before courts started to take judicial notice of Internet evidence. With the proliferation of websites whose content is monitored for accuracy, more and more courts are doing just...

Webinar: Subro Wars: E-Cigarettes, Hoverboards, and other Fire Hazard Products	Webinar	07/27/2016
Webinar: Best Practices in Dealing with Insureds	Webinar	12/10/2015

Practice Areas

Subrogation & Recovery

Industry Sectors

Insurance

Education

Rutgers University School of Law - Camden, J.D., 1993
Swarthmore College, B.A., 1984

Bar Admissions

New Jersey
Pennsylvania

Court Admissions

Affiliations

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