William J. Meeske retired from the partnership in December 2004. Mr. Meeske joined Latham & Watkins in 1972 and became a partner in 1980. He served as Partner-In-Charge of the Los Angeles office Litigation Department from 1987 to 1989 and as Chairman of the firm-wide recruiting committee in 1986 and 1987.
Mr. Meeske's practice included a variety of business litigation, with emphasis on antitrust and securities actions. He has handled antitrust actions for such clients as Teledyne, Shell Oil Co., Cerveceria Moctezuma S.A. (a leading Mexican brewery), International Game Technology, the Regents of the University of California, the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Burroughs Corporation and the California Grocers Association.
In the securities area, he has handled class and derivative actions for such clients as Teledyne, Beverly Enterprises, Flagstar Corporation, Digital Sound Corporation, Micropolis, Shurgard, First Executive Corporation and iMall. He has also handled defamation and contract actions in the entertainment industry. He has conducted trials on behalf of Xerox Corporation, Raytheon, Hughes Aircraft Company, Shell Oil Company and Cerveceria Moctezuma, S.A., among others.
At the time of his retirement, Mr. Meeske was a member of the Litigation Law Section of the American Bar Association, the Litigation Section of the California State Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has been a speaker for the federal civil practice programs sponsored by the University of Houston and University of California at Davis. He has also been a panelist on antitrust and other issues for the Continuing Education of the Bar's Institute on Competitive Business Practices, and has spoken on antitrust law in internal corporate education programs. Mr Meeske is the co-author of a chapter entitled, "Provisional Remedies" which appeared in the ABA sponsored West Publishing treatise Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts.