William T. Dzurilla
Encyclopedia
William T. Dzurilla, formerly William T. D'Zurilla, is an attorney, a partner in the Boies Schiller & Flexner law firm's Fort Lauderdale, Florida
office. He was a law clerk
for Justice Byron White
of the United States Supreme Court from 1982 to 1983. He played a key role in the privatization
of major state-owned businesses in Slovakia
.
. His family moved to Holly Hill, Florida
, and he graduated from Mainland High School
in Daytona Beach. He received his B.A. degree
from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
in 1978, and his J.D.
from Tulane Law School in 1981.
After graduation, he clerked for Judge Albert Tate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
from 1981 to 1982 and then for Justice Byron White
of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1982 to 1983.
After completing his clerkship, Dzurilla joined the New Orleans firm of Gordon Arata McCollam & Duplantis, where he stayed for 15 years. He worked with his former co-clerk Patricia A. Dean
on the defense of a First Amendment
challenge to the constitutionality of seven federal, state, and local school aid programs, which culminated in Mitchell v. Helms, a U.S. Supreme Court decision overruling previous authority. Dzurilla also helped obtain a unanimous Louisiana Supreme Court
decision finding Louisiana's forum non conveniens statute contrary to the Supremacy Clause
of the U.S. Constitution, an appellate decision striking down Louisiana's Any Willing Provider statute as preempted by ERISA, and a U.S. Fifth Circuit opinion overturning a criminal mail fraud conviction on Double Jeopardy
grounds.
In 1990, on behalf of the Federal Bar Association's Democracy Development Initiative, Dzurilla spent two months in Moscow
, Russia
as an advisor to the Russian Constitutional Commission, which was preparing the first non-socialist constitution
of the Russian Federation. The commission was chaired by Russian president Boris Yeltsin
, and Dzurilla worked closely with Oleg Rumyantsev, the chairman of the commission's working group. The commission's work led to the enactment of the 1993 Constitution of Russia
. However, as a result of the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, the final version differed from the commission's draft by substantially increasing the powers of the president.
In 1998, Dzurilla accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to teach law at the Comenius University in Bratislava
, Slovakia
. While in Slovakia, he joined White & Case and stayed with that firm for four years, handling several important deals in the Slovak Republic's transition from a Soviet satellite to a full member of the European Union
. Mr. Dzurilla worked with Slovak Minister of Finance Brigita Schmögnerová on the privatization of the Slovak Savings Bank (Slovenská sporiteľňa) and the General Credit Bank (VÚB), the two largest Slovak banks. He represented Electricite de France
in its acquisition of the Central Slovak Electric Company, and Allianz
in its purchase of the Slovak Insurance Company. He advised the Slovak government in the sale of 49% of the shares of the Transpetrol AS oil pipeline company to the Russian company Yukos
, then headed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky
.
In 2004, Dzurilla rejoined his former co-clerk Stuart H. Singer
, who offered him a position with Boies Schiller & Flexner in Fort Lauderdale. Since returning to the United States, Dzurilla has focused on complex litigation and arbitration
. He has represented clients such as NASCAR
and Florida Power & Light
, and he is involved in class-action litigation against Quixtar
.
Dzurilla married Daria Mariani in 2000 in Slovakia. They have two children, William (Billy) and Pavel (Paul).
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
office. He was a law clerk
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
for Justice Byron White
Byron White
Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White won fame both as a football halfback and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed to the court by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he served until his retirement in 1993...
of the United States Supreme Court from 1982 to 1983. He played a key role in the privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
of major state-owned businesses in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
.
Biography
Born on December 19, 1953, the grandson of Slovak immigrants, Dzurilla grew up in Carteret, New JerseyCarteret, New Jersey
Carteret is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 22,844.Carteret was created as the borough of Roosevelt on 11 April 1906, incorporating Woodbridge Township, and was a result of a referendum on 22 May 1906...
. His family moved to Holly Hill, Florida
Holly Hill, Florida
Holly Hill is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 12,119 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 12,586...
, and he graduated from Mainland High School
Mainland High School
Mainland High School is a public high school located in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is attended by 1,979 students of grades nine through twelve. The mascot is a Buccaneer and strongly resembles the old logo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.-Daytona Public School:...
in Daytona Beach. He received his B.A. degree
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...
in 1978, and his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Tulane Law School in 1981.
After graduation, he clerked for Judge Albert Tate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Louisiana* Middle District of Louisiana...
from 1981 to 1982 and then for Justice Byron White
Byron White
Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White won fame both as a football halfback and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed to the court by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he served until his retirement in 1993...
of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1982 to 1983.
After completing his clerkship, Dzurilla joined the New Orleans firm of Gordon Arata McCollam & Duplantis, where he stayed for 15 years. He worked with his former co-clerk Patricia A. Dean
Patricia A. Dean
Patricia A. Dean was an attorney, a partner with the law firm in Washington, a law clerk for Justice Byron White of the United States Supreme Court from 1982 to 1983, and a deputy clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1978 to 1981, the first woman to serve in that position. She died of cancer on...
on the defense of a First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
challenge to the constitutionality of seven federal, state, and local school aid programs, which culminated in Mitchell v. Helms, a U.S. Supreme Court decision overruling previous authority. Dzurilla also helped obtain a unanimous Louisiana Supreme Court
Louisiana Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Louisiana is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans....
decision finding Louisiana's forum non conveniens statute contrary to the Supremacy Clause
Supremacy Clause
Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, known as the Supremacy Clause, establishes the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Treaties, and Federal Statutes as "the supreme law of the land." The text decrees these to be the highest form of law in the U.S...
of the U.S. Constitution, an appellate decision striking down Louisiana's Any Willing Provider statute as preempted by ERISA, and a U.S. Fifth Circuit opinion overturning a criminal mail fraud conviction on Double Jeopardy
Double jeopardy
Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same, or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction...
grounds.
In 1990, on behalf of the Federal Bar Association's Democracy Development Initiative, Dzurilla spent two months in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
as an advisor to the Russian Constitutional Commission, which was preparing the first non-socialist constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
of the Russian Federation. The commission was chaired by Russian president Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, and Dzurilla worked closely with Oleg Rumyantsev, the chairman of the commission's working group. The commission's work led to the enactment of the 1993 Constitution of Russia
Constitution of Russia
The current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication...
. However, as a result of the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, the final version differed from the commission's draft by substantially increasing the powers of the president.
In 1998, Dzurilla accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to teach law at the Comenius University in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. While in Slovakia, he joined White & Case and stayed with that firm for four years, handling several important deals in the Slovak Republic's transition from a Soviet satellite to a full member of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Mr. Dzurilla worked with Slovak Minister of Finance Brigita Schmögnerová on the privatization of the Slovak Savings Bank (Slovenská sporiteľňa) and the General Credit Bank (VÚB), the two largest Slovak banks. He represented Electricite de France
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
in its acquisition of the Central Slovak Electric Company, and Allianz
Allianz
SE is a global financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core business and focus is insurance. As of 2010, it was the world's 12th-largest financial services group and 23rd-largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine.Its Allianz Global Investors...
in its purchase of the Slovak Insurance Company. He advised the Slovak government in the sale of 49% of the shares of the Transpetrol AS oil pipeline company to the Russian company Yukos
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison.Yukos headquarters was located in...
, then headed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky is a Russian prisoner, considered by some - such as Amnesty International - to have been imprisoned for political reasons, jailed until 2016 and a former Russian oligarch and businessman...
.
In 2004, Dzurilla rejoined his former co-clerk Stuart H. Singer
Stuart H. Singer
Stuart H. Singer is an American attorney, the managing partner of the Boies Schiller & Flexner law firm's Fort Lauderdale, Florida office. He specializes in complex business litigation and represents clients such as NASCAR, Carnival Cruise Lines, Florida Power & Light, and Tyco International...
, who offered him a position with Boies Schiller & Flexner in Fort Lauderdale. Since returning to the United States, Dzurilla has focused on complex litigation and arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
. He has represented clients such as NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
and Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light Company, the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. , commonly referred to by its initials, FPL, is a Juno Beach, Florida-based power utility which serves roughly 4.4 million customers in Florida. FPL Group holds power generation assets in more than 20 U.S...
, and he is involved in class-action litigation against Quixtar
Quixtar
Amway Global is a multi-level marketing or network marketing company, founded 1959 in Ada, Michigan, United States...
.
Dzurilla married Daria Mariani in 2000 in Slovakia. They have two children, William (Billy) and Pavel (Paul).
Works
- Reflections of a Dalkon Shield Arbitrator, 53 Dispute Resolution Journal 13 (1998)
- Farewell to Lenin: The Story of Russia's New, Non-Communist Constitution, 38 Federal Bar News & Journal 410 (1991)
- Federal Health Care Bills Include ADR, 41 La. B.J. 560 (1994)
- Individual Responsibility for Torture Under International Law, 56 Tulane L.Rev. 186 (1981)
- Cuba's 1976 Socialist Constitution and the Fidelista Interpretation of Cuban Constitutional History, 55 Tulane L.Rev. 1223 (1981)
See also
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
- List of University of Louisiana at Lafayette people
- List of Tulane University people
- List of Slovaks
- List of Slovak Americans