William C. McAlister

William C. McAlister serves Abowitz, Timberlake, Dahnke & Gisinger, P.C., in an "Of Counsel" capacity.  Mr. McAlister's area of practice includes legal and appellate research and writing.  He also prepares insurance coverage opinions and assists in insurance coverage litigation.  He is an arbitrator and a mediator.  Mr. McAlister is experienced in insurance coverage, products liability, construction and aviation law matters.  He also has experience in commercial and banking law matters.  Mr. McAlister received a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Oklahoma.  He obtained his law degree from Oklahoma City University. 

Mr. McAlister served four years as the Senior Law Clerk for Judge Fred Daugherty, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and Judge of the Eastern and Northern Districts of Oklahoma.  Pursuant to an assignment from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Mr. McAlister served as a Judge for a Temporary Division of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals.  He has served as a Special Master in Federal Court. 

Mr. McAlister is a member of the Oklahoma County Bar Association, serving on the Board of Directors from 1999 to 2002.  He has served continuously on the Civil Procedure Committee of the Oklahoma Bar Association since 1988.  He is a member of the Defense Research Institute and the Oklahoma Association of Defense Counsel.  Mr. McAlister serves on the panel of neutrals of the American Arbitration Association as both an arbitrator and a mediator.  He has presented continuing legal education courses on civil procedure and rules. 

Representative Cases of Note:

• Amarillo CellTelCo. v. Dobson Cellular Systems,
  58 F.3d 635 (5th Cir. 1995)
  [Defended a complex antitrust and Texas Deceptive Trade Practice Act case.]
• Hartford Acc. & Indemnity Co. v. Pacific Mutual Life Ins. Co.,
  861 F.2d 250 (10th Cir. 1988)
  [Established insurance coverage for defects to building as a whole under a subcontractor's Comprehensive General Liability policy.  This case followed the prosecution of a complex construction defect case for a building owner against multiple contractors.]
• Haws v. Luethje,
  1972 OK 146, 503 P.2d 871
  [Created rule of law that settlement and release by injured party before his death precluded a subsequent wrongful death action, requiring the Oklahoma Supreme Court to overrule precedent to the contrary.]
• King v. Woodward,
  1972 OK 46, 496 P.2d 801
  [Established the rights of a liability insurer to offset payments made under medical payments coverage to passengers against judgments later obtained against the driver.]
• Stuckey v. Young Exploration Co.,
  1978 OK 128, 586 P.2d 726
  [On behalf of a truck manufacturer, established that the manufacturers' products liability doctrine did not apply to an accident involving a vehicle that had been significantly altered.]
• YWCA of Oklahoma City v. Melson,
  1997 OK 81, 944 P.2d 304
  [Allows pretrial discovery of the financial status of a defendant in a case seeking punitive damages, overruling a case that had served as precedent for over twenty years.]