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Bill Gray Joins Sands Anderson

Published on: 11/06/2002

(September 6, 2002)... Before joining Sands Anderson Marks & Miller in June of this year, Bill Gray was a Counsel in the Legal Division of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. At the FDIC, he worked on a number of similar cases known as "Goodwill" or "Winstar-related," after the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Winstar, 518 U.S. 839 (1996). In particular, Gray represented the FDIC as successor to a failed Savings & Loan, suing the United States for breach of contract. The FDIC claimed that the breach of contract caused the Savings & Loan's failure, and was suing the United States for $40 million in lost equity. The United States, through the Department of Justice, argued that the failed Savings & Loan did not have a contract with the United States, or if it did, the breach was not the cause of the thrift's failure.

Recently, the FDIC prevailed in Gray's motion for partial summary judgment on liability, and defeated the United States' motion to dismiss! To date, the FDIC in general has not been that successful in many of the Winstar-related cases it is prosecuting. Gray's case is a notable exception. In the court's written opinion, the judge recognized and cited significant yet subtle facts Gray emphasized in his pleadings and at oral argument, adopted the FDIC's positions on most issues, and repeatedly cited to the exhibits in the FDIC's motion. The court had not rendered an opinion in the case before Gray left the FDIC and joined Sands Anderson, so another FDIC attorney's name is on the opinion. But it was clearly Gray's work for over three years on the case, including his pleadings and argument that won the case!

Founded nearly 170 years ago, Sands Anderson has 70 lawyers practicing among its offices in Richmond, Christiansburg, Fredericksburg and McLean, Virginia, and Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2011, it was ranked 11th in the Virginia Lawyers Weekly annual listing of the state's largest law firms. Sands Anderson provides a full range of legal services to corporations and businesses, healthcare providers, financial institutions, state and local governments, the insurance industry and individuals.