About William R.
William R. Peterson combines a technical undergraduate background with a traditional appellate training. He earned a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Sciences from the California Institute of Technology in 2002 and took his law degree from The University of Texas School of Law in 2008. Those two strands — engineering and law — shape the precise, methodical approach he brings to filings and oral arguments.
After law school he served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Edith Hollan Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 2008. He spent a year in private practice as an associate at Beck Redden, L.L.P. in 2009, then returned to the bench as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States in 2010. He later joined Morgan Lewis, where he advanced to partner in 2016.
Peterson’s career contains a strong appellate thread. He is admitted in Texas and on numerous federal dockets. That list includes the U.S. Supreme Court, the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas. The breadth of those admissions allows him to take appeals and federal trial matters across multiple jurisdictions.
Colleagues describe him as methodical and exacting in his preparation. His courtroom work reflects early exposure to judges at both the appellate and Supreme Court levels. He maintains memberships in the Garland R. Walker American Inn of Court and holds an Honorary Overseas membership in the Commercial Bar Association of England and Wales (COMBAR). He has been a member of the State Bar of Texas since 2008.
At Morgan Lewis he handles appellate and federal court matters for corporate clients and litigants involved in complex civil disputes. His background in engineering informs his handling of technical records and expert testimony. He regularly briefs and argues motions and appeals in multi-jurisdictional cases, and he counsels trial teams on preserving issues for appeal.
Peterson’s path — from Caltech to the Supreme Court chambers and back into major firm practice — has given him a mix of technical training, clerkship perspective and private practice experience. He remains based at Morgan Lewis and maintains an active appellate and federal litigation practice. He currently focuses on appellate and federal court litigation at Morgan Lewis.
