Bill Purdy was a partner when he retired at Bradley. For nearly 40 years, Bill focused his practice on construction claims and disputes and on federal procurement law.

In recognition of his legal achievements, Bill was named the 2014 Mississippi Lawyer of the Year, a peer-review award given by the Mississippi Business Journal. He was also selected based upon independent international criteria and surveys of lawyers worldwide for listing in Who’s Who Legal: Construction for 2015. Bill was one of only two Mississippi attorneys to receive this recognition.

Bill was the first of only two Mississippi lawyers ever invited to be a Fellow in the select American College of Construction Lawyers, which includes only the most skilled and accomplished construction lawyers in the United States and abroad.

Bill was among only a handful of lawyers in the country to be both an ACCL Fellow and also to be elected by his peers as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, which is limited to the top one percent of the best courtroom lawyers in the country. He was believed to be the only lawyer in the country to be a Fellow in the International Society of Barristers, as well as the ACCL and ACTL.

Bill was one of only three Mississippi lawyers with a “Band 1” (highest) rating for construction litigation in Chambers USA, the authoritative legal guide, which referred to him as the “dean of the state’s construction lawyers."

Bill was a Master of the Bench (highest rating) and served as president of the Central Mississippi Chapter of the American Inns of Court. Bill was honored by a unanimous Joint Resolution of the Mississippi House and Senate as an “Outstanding Mississippian," and was consistently rated by Mid-South Super Lawyers as one of the “Top 50” Mississippi lawyers, without regard to practice specialty.

Before law school, Bill served with the Marines in Vietnam as an infantry company commander. He was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in combat, the Purple Heart medal, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

Bar Admissions

• Mississippi, 1980

Court Admissions

• Mississippi Supreme Court
• United States District Court, Northern District of Mississippi
• United States District Court, Southern District of Mississippi
• United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
• United States Court of Federal Claims
• United States District Court, Western District of Texas
• United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia

Education

• University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D., 1975
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, A.B., 1972, Morehead Scholar

Significant Accomplishments
Bill Purdy represents commercial building contractors throughout the South. He has also represented government contractors across the United States and has handled matters for them in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Bill has extensive experience in trying construction cases before juries in state and federal court and in arbitrations administered by the American Arbitration Association and other organizations. He has litigated federal contract disputes before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and federal administrative appeals boards and has prosecuted and defended bid protests at the Government Accountability Office and Court of Federal Claims. Bill has represented both construction companies and other types of government contractors in state trial and appellate courts and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits.