Sean G. Williamson

Partner

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There are many clever lawyers, but our clients deserve more. Their success is achieved not merely through creative legal strategies but, most importantly, representation that is credible and trusted.

 

Overview
Experience
Credentials
Perspectives

Sean G. Williamson is a member of the Firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Service Team whose practice extends to all phases of trial and appellate proceedings. He represents a broad range of clients in complex commercial disputes. Sean’s experience includes fiduciary litigation, trademark actions, sales disputes under the Uniform Commercial Code, products liability and warranty matters, securities litigation, class actions, and constitutional challenges. In addition, Sean advises businesses and innovators on the protection of valuable, competitive information, such as trade secrets and non-competition issues.

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REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

  • Commonwealth of Kentucky ex rel. Cameron v. Johnson, 658 S.W.3d 25 (Ky. 2022).  The firm represented the Council for Better Education and public school districts in a constitutional challenge to legislation authorizing near dollar-for-dollar tax credits to fund the payment of private school tuition and expenses. The Kentucky Supreme Court struck down the tax credit scheme as a violation of Section 184 of the Kentucky Constitution.
  • Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. v. Log Still Distilling, LLC, 575 F. Supp. 3d 785 (W.D. Ky. 2021).  The firm represents Heaven Hill in an action alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition related its “J.W. Dant” trademarks.  The firm has secured preliminary injunctive relief in favor of Heaven Hill.
  • Ronaldo Designer Jewelry, Inc. v. RDJ Internet & Social Media, Inc., No. 3:20-CV-469-DJH-RSE (W.D. Ky.).  The firm represents Ronaldo Designer Jewelry in an action against a former corporate officer, as well as his associates and affiliated entities, for infringement of Ronaldo’s trademarks, trade dress, and copyrighted works.
  • American Commercial Barge Line LLC v. Louis Dreyfus Company LLC, No. 4:19-CV-00274-SEB-DML (S.D. Ind.).  The firm represented ACBL in a federal maritime dispute concerning liability for port charges imposed in connection with the fleeting and shifting of grain barges delivered to an export terminal on the lower Mississippi River.
  • Malone v. Jefferson County Board of Education, No. 2019-CA-1398-MR,  2021 WL 137762 (Ky. App. Jan. 21, 2021).  The firm obtained summary judgment in favor of a public school district on claims of breach of contract, fraud, and various other causes of actions, arising from a former teacher’s decision to resign in lieu of facing disciplinary proceedings.  The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment.
  • Burnett v. Neal, No. 18-CI-002002 (Jefferson Ky. Cir. Ct. 2019).  The firm obtained summary judgment in favor of a watercraft manufacturer dismissing indemnity and contribution claims, which alleged that a purported product defect caused or contributed to the death of a passenger in a boating accident.
  • White v. Universal Fidelity, LP, 793 F. App’x 389 (6th Cir. 2019). The firm represented a hospital corporation and debt collection entities in an equal protection challenge to Kentucky’s necessaries statute and related FDCPA claims. The district court dismissed plaintiff’s claims, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed the judgment.
  • Laborers’ Local #231 Pension Fund v. PharMerica Corporation, No. 3:18-CV-109-RGJ-CHL, 2019 WL 4645583 (W.D. Ky. Sept. 24, 2019).  The firm obtained dismissal of shareholders’ class action asserting claims under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for an allegedly misleading proxy statement associated with the company’s going-private merger.
  • Allen v. American Commercial Barge Line, LLC, No. 4:17-CV-0222-SEB-DML, 2019 WL 4572796 (S.D. Ind. Sept. 20, 2019).  The firm obtained summary judgment in favor of ACBL on a former employee’s claims alleging breach of a severance agreement.  The trial court concluded that the plaintiff’s violation of the agreement’s non-disclosure and confidentiality provisions precluded his claims for additional severance payments.
  • Cogan Imports, Inc. v. Dharod, No. 3:16-CV-00352-GNS, 2019 WL 3536000 (W.D. Ky. Aug. 2, 2019).  The firm obtained summary judgment for the defendant on breach of contract claims asserted by a motor vehicle dealer attempting to compel specific performance of an alleged email contract for the $2.7 million purchase of a Ferrari automobile.
  • Parshall v. Citizens First Corporation, No. 19-CI-00643 (Warren Cnty. Ky. Cir. Ct. 2019).  The firm represented a local bank and its corporate officers in class action litigation brought by a putative class of shareholders demanding supplemental proxy disclosures and injunctive relief.  The litigation was dismissed before shareholders’ merger vote.
  • Libertarian National Committee, Inc. v. Holiday, 907 F.3d 941 (6th Cir. 2018).  The firm obtained summary judgment in favor of public broadcaster on alleged viewpoint discrimination and other constitutional claims arising from a third-party candidate’s exclusion from a televised forum for U.S. senatorial candidates.  The Sixth Circuit affirmed the judgment.
  • Nami Resources Co. v. Asher Land and Mineral, Ltd., 554 S.W.3d 323 (Ky. 2018).  The firm obtained reversal of $2.7 million punitive award based on alleged fraudulent concealment of underpaid natural gas royalties.
  • Conrad v. Bevin, No. 3:17-CV-00056-GFVT, 2018 WL 988071 (E.D. Ky. Feb. 16, 2018).  The firm defeated a motion for preliminary injunction, and obtained dismissal of an action against a physicians’ health organization alleging antitrust, due process, equal protection, and ADA violations, as well as invasion of privacy claims, arising from the temporary suspension of plaintiff’s medical license.
  • National Achievement Source, LLC v. Jefferson County Public Schools, No. 17-CI-004017 (Jefferson Cnty. Ky. Cir. Ct. 2017). The firm defeated a motion for preliminary injunction, and obtained complete dismissal of vendor’s claims of alleged violations of the Kentucky Model Procurement Code arising from student purchases of graduation memorabilia, including caps and gowns.
  • Boyd ex rel. B.B. v. Jefferson County Public Schools, No 3:16-cv-00023-CRS-CHL, 2017 WL 4685737 (W.D. Ky. Oct. 18, 2017).  The firm obtained summary judgment in favor of a public school district and its employees on alleged Fourth Amendment, due process, and equal protection violations, as well as related state tort claims, arising from law enforcement’s arrest of a student on school property.

EDUCATION

J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2014

  • Executive Editor, Journal of Constitutional Law
  • Moot Court Board
  • Frank G. Leebron Memorial Prize (awarded to the graduating student who has written the best paper in the field of constitutional law)
  • Award for Distinguished Pro Bono Service
  • Legal Writing Honors

B.A., summa cum laude, University of Louisville, 2011 (History and Political Science)

  • McConnell Scholarship for Political Leadership

ADMISSIONS

  • Kentucky
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • United State District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

HONORS

  • Recognized by Best Lawyers® as “Ones to Watch” in Commercial Litigation, 2021-2024
  • Recognized by his peers as a Kentucky Super Lawyers® Rising Star, 2019-2024

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

  • Clerk for the Honorable Charles R. Simpson, III, United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, 2014-2015
  • Summer Associate, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP, 2013
  • Intern for the Honorable John G. Heyburn, II, United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, 2012

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERSHIPS

  • Kentucky Bar Association
  • Louisville Bar Association

CIVIC INVOLVEMENT

  • Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Litigation Committee
  • Volunteers of America Mid-States, Board of Directors

  • McConnell Center, University of Louisville, Advisor Moot Court Program

  • St. John Center for Homeless Men, Board of Directors, 2017-2019

  • The Home of the Innocents, Associate Board, 2017-2020

  • Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana, Young Professionals Board, 2017-2019

  • Louis D. Brandeis American Inn of Court, Associate Member, 2016-2018

  • YPAL Emerging Leaders Program, 2016

PUBLICATIONS

Comment, Contemporary Contextual Analysis: Accounting for Changed Factual Conditions Under the Equal Protection Clause, 17 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 591 (2014)

PRESENTATIONS

  • “Help Me Now: Trademark Litigation and Preliminary Injunctions,” Wyatt’s In-House Counsel Seminar, June 2022
  • “Ethics Topics for In-House Counsel,” Wyatt’s Cultivating Successful Litigation Strategies Seminar, November 2021