WMW — PROVIDING A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE AND PASSION SINCE 1967
The original founding partner of the firm, Bill Wagner represented plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death cases for over 60 years, becoming a member of the Florida Bar in 1960 and retiring after an impressive 62 years representing the injured and serving the legal community decade after decade.
Bill Wagner grew up in Lake Worth, Florida, and graduated from Lake Worth High School in 1951. He attended undergraduate school at the University of Florida and later graduated with honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1960 after two years’ service as an intelligence officer in the United States Air Force.
He practiced law in Miami at Nichols, Gaither, Beckham, Colson, Spence, and Hicks, where he became a partner. Thereafter, in 1967, he formed the partnership of Wagner, Cunningham & Vaughan, which later became Wagner, Vaughan & McLaughlin until 2015 when the firm was known as Wagner McLaughlin.
Bill’s dedication to plaintiffs’ rights has led to a long history of active leadership in professional organizations. The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers (now named Florida Justice Association) elected him to its 1972-1973 presidency, as well as sixteen years of board membership — and in 1992 honored him with its highest recognition, the Perry Nichols Award. He has also served as president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now known as the American Association for Justice), the first national organization of lawyers whose main practice is representing those injured by the fault of others, and was an officer or a member of its Board of Governors for more than sixteen years. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, considered to be the premier professional trial organization in America. Bill was selected for the first publication of The Best Lawyers in America and has continued to be chosen for that honor every year since, for more than 35 years, until his retirement.
Over his distinguished career, Bill has been honored with more awards than can be listed here. The Florida Justice Association honored him with its Lawyer to Legacy 2012 Eagle Legend Award, and the Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association presented him with its highest “Champion of Justice” Award. He received the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s Outstanding Lawyer Award in 2000 and was presented with the Florida Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by the Florida Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates in 1997. As a member of the Southern Trial Lawyers Association, he has received its prestigious War Horse Award.
Bill’s personal interest in flying led to his obtaining a commercial pilot’s license, with multi-engine, instrument, seaplane, and helicopter ratings, which has given him a rare insight into aviation equipment, operations, and accidents. He served as an original member of and chaired the Florida Bar’s Aviation Law Certification Committee, was the first plaintiffs’ board-certified aviation lawyer on Florida’s west coast, and remained board-certified in aviation for many decades, until 2013.
Bill was born Frederick William Wagner, but most of his life has been known by and called “Bill.” He has three adult sons, his eldest, Alan Wagner, is also an attorney and has been president of Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore since 2003.
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