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William (Bill) Lewis

Partner & General Counsel | Tampa

William (Bill) R. Lewis is a Partner and General Counsel at Butler, Weihmuller, Katz & Craig LLP in Tampa, Florida. Since joining the firm in 1993, Bill has devoted his time to defending first-party property insurance coverage and extra-contractual matters. Bill has experience in several areas of property coverage defense, including claims about Chinese drywall, oil spills, hurricanes, collapses, floods, sinkholes, fires, and earth movement.

Bill received his Doctor of Jurisprudence, with honors, from Florida State University in 1990. Bill served for two years as a law clerk to the Honorable Anne C. Booth of the Florida First District Court of Appeal after graduation. From August 2009 to August 2010, Bill served as Chair of the American Bar Association, Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Property Insurance Law Committee. He is a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel.  Bill is married to Congresswoman Kathy Castor, and they have two daughters, Julia and Chrissy.

  • Fellow – American College of Coverage Counsel

Admissions

  • Florida

Recognitions

  • Best Lawyers, 2021-2025

Education

  • University of Florida
    Bachelor of Science
  • Florida State University
    Doctor of Jurisprudence

Memberships

  • American Bar Association (ABA)
  • Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC)
  • Hillsborough County Bar Association (HCBA)
  • The Florida Bar

Courts

  • United States District Court – Northern District of Florida
  • United States District Court – Middle District of Florida
  • United States District Court – Southern District of Florida
  • United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

Experiences

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

CSX Corporation and CSX Insurance Company v. North River Insurance Company; American Re-Insurance Company, N/K/A Munich Reinsurance America, Inc., Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Steadfast Insurance Company, Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Landmark American Insurance Company, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, Syndicates 435, 510, 780, 1084, 1183, 1414, 2001, 2147, 3000, 4472, and 5000, and Aspen Insurance Limited, Case Number: 3:08-cv-531-J-23MCR

The Weitz Company v. Lexington Insurance Company, et. al. (U.S.D.C. (8th Cir. 2015)). Weitz, a party to a completed construction contract with a Hyatt Corporation sought to become subrogated through Hyatt, to insurance monies that were not, according to Weitz, properly paid to Hyatt by the defendant insurers for claims made to them by Hyatt, their insured. The Court found that Weitz’s claims were both unsupported and unsupportable.

Media

Best Lawyers – 2025 Edition

Join us in congratulating our attorneys who were recognized in the Best Lawyers 2025 publication! Click on their icons to learn more. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Their process is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal ...

Best Lawyers – 2024 Edition

Join us in congratulating our attorneys who were recognized in the 2024 Best Lawyers publication! Click on their icons to learn more. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Their process is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal ...

Managing the Complexities of Large Excess and Surplus Losses

Join Partner William Lewis and co-presenters Jonathan Camarro (RSUI), Evelyn M. Merchant (Berk, Merchant & Sims, PLC), Alan Palma (Palma Legal Services, P.A.), and Michael A. Fried (Strategic Claims Consultants) as they present for the WIND 2023 Conference. This presentation will take place in Caribe Royale, Orlando, FL from January 24-25, 2023. This presentation will discuss managing the com...

Best Lawyers – 2023 Edition

Join us in congratulating our attorneys who were recognized in the 2023 Best Lawyers publication! Click on their icons to learn more. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Their process is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal ...

New Property Insurance Litigator’s Handbook (3rd Edition)

Butler congratulates its Partners on the release of the 3rd Edition of the ABA's Property Insurance Litigator's Handbook. This book has contributions from Partners SARAH BURKE, RICH GABLE, BILL LEWIS. Property insurance disputes make headlines when they are catastrophic in nature. Our society wants to see communities, businesses, and individuals rebuilt and insurance provides a great mechanis...

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Recognizing the Best Lawyers in America 2022

Please join us in congratulating our Partners for being recognized on “The Best Lawyers in America” list for 2022. Recognition in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers. For more than three decades, their publications have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the m...

Partner Bill Lewis Selected into ACCC

Join us in congratulating Partner Bill Lewis for being selected as a Fellow in the American College of Coverage Counsel. The ACCC is composed of preeminent coverage and extra-contractual counsel in the United States and Canada, representing the interests of both insurers and policyholders. The organization facilitates and encourages the association of outstanding lawyers who are distinguished for...

Attorney Spotlight | William Lewis

Butler is proud to spotlight one of its long standing Partners, Bill Lewis. Having built a successful career as a lawyer with the firm for almost 30 years, Bill’s experiences have opened up opportunities to work alongside leading partners within the firm, prestigious legal organizations and top insurance companies in the industry.  In our interview Bill candidly shares his journey in becoming a...

Recognizing the Best Lawyers in America

Please join us in congratulating our Partners for being recognized on "The Best Lawyers in America" list for 2021. Recognition in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers. For more than three decades, their publications have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most ...

Recent Developments In Property Insurance Law

Recent Developments In Property Insurance Law...

A Heart for Haiti

It all started in 2003 for Partner Bill Lewis. His church was heading to Haiti for a mission trip, and Bill volunteered to go. He packed his bags, flew to Haiti and landed on a puddle jumper airplane whose landing strip was a compilation of dirt and grass. The goal was to build as many cisterns as possible so that the people of Haiti could have a better system for water. Reflecting on his experien...

Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, Winter 2017

This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or downloaded or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. I. Business Interruption/Civil Authority In National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania v. Trans-Canada Energy USA, Inc.,1 the insurers s...

Property Insurance Case Law Update

Bill Lewis presented a Continuing Education Credit presentation to AXIS on May 6, 2016. Bill's topic is "Property Insurance Case Law Update."...

Recent Developments In Property Insurance Coverage Litigation

This article was originally published in the Winter edition of the American Bar Association's Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, published with permission. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or downloaded or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar As...

Fdcc Conference

Bill Lewis spoke at the FDCC Conference on February 28 — March 4, 2016 in San Diego, CA. Bill's topic was, “Analysis of Property Insurance Coverage Issues that arise out of Extreme Weather Events.”...

2016 Windstorm Insurance Conference

Bill Lewis spoke at the 2016 Windstorm Conference on February 1—4, 2016 in Orlando, FL. Bill's topic was, “Preexisting Damages v. Damages from a Covered Peril.”...

Butler Breakfast & Educational Seminar

Bill Lewis spoke with Phil Ambrose from Engle Martin and Paul McCullough from S-E-A, Ltd. at the Lloyd's Library in London, England on March 11, 2015.  The topic of the presentation was, "Everything You Need to Know About Collapse/Rot Claims in Florida."...

Seven Partners Listed in the Best Lawyers in America 2015

Butler is pleased to announce that seven of its Partners were listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2015, a highly regarded directory of attorneys, where inclusion is entirely peer-based and extremely selective. Fewer than 4% of the nation's attorneys are included. Jerry Albrecht, Paul Butler, Doug Berry, Bill Lewis, Kathy Maus, and John Weihmuller were selected for Insurance Law. Lewis Collins w...

Windstorm 2012

Bill spoke at WINDSTORM 2012. The topic was, "Adjustment Techniques Never Stay the Same: How Recent Statutory and Legal Changes Impact the Adjustments of Windstorm Claims in Florida."...

Recent Developments In Property Insurance Coverage Litigation

Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal (Winter 2011 • Volume 46:2).  Copyright © 2011 American Bar Association.  All Rights Reserved.  Reprinted by permission.  This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or downloaded or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the Ameri...

What The Heck Is An Ensuing Loss?

I. Introduction The idea of "ensuing loss" sounds so simple. It is a loss that ensues from an earlier loss. In first party property insurance contracts, the "ensuing loss" concept comes into play when the initial loss is excluded, such as in the case of mold, water damage, or when a defective design causes the loss. When another loss ensues from the first excluded cause of loss, the intent of "en...

Evolving Trends In Calculating Acv And Replacement Cost

I.  Introduction Assuming that a loss falls with the terms and conditions of the insurance policy and is a covered loss, the next question to be addressed is the quantum of the loss. The quantum of the loss is generally resolved by valuation principles based on “Actual Cash Value” calculations or “Replacement Cost” calculations contained within the particular policy of insurance. The con...

Seventh Circuit Court Of Appeals Finds “Independent” Insurance Broker To Be Intermediary Of Insured, Barring Coverage And Bad Faith Claims

This is one of a series of articles under the by line “Butler on Bad Faith” originally published in Mealey's Litigation Report: Insurance Bad Faith, Vol. 15, #24, p. 25 (April 17, 2002). © Copyright Butler 2002. The Seventh Circuit recently addressed the question of whether an independent insurance broker, who provided clients to the insured, was their intermediary, thus barring coverage and...

William (Bill) Lewis