Bill is a regular speaker and author on topics covering a broad range of industries and topics including defense strategy in toxic tort and environmental litigation, product liability, and emerging theories of litigation. Bill has litigated a large number of CERCLA cost recovery cases across the United States as counsel for both corporate plaintiffs and defendants. Bill has written extensively concerning the use and implementation of innovative litigation strategies in the defense of toxic tort litigations, including the adoption of Long Pine orders and Value Assurance Programs.  He has also written several well-received articles on the subject of horizontal drilling, and co-taught a class at Cornell University concerning various stakeholders’ positions on different sides of the fracking debate.

Select Publications

• “New York High Court Rejects Talc/Asbestos Causation Testimony, Reaffirming Need for Scientific Dose Assessment,” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Asbestos ( a commentary article published on July 27, 2022), co-authored by William L. Anderson. 
• “Judge Clears Exxon in Investor Fraud Case over Climate Risk Disclosure,” Inside Climate News (December 11, 2109). Mr. Ruskin provides journalists David Hasemyer and Nicholas Kusnetz his observations about the decision of New York County Supreme Court Justice, Barry Ostrager, dated December 10, 2019, clearing ExxonMobil of allegations that it misled investors about the risks posed to its business by climate change regulations. According to Mr. Ruskin, this was a “brutal and very reasoned decision by a judge extremely upset by the way the attorney general tried this case.”
• “Climate Change Could Destroy His Home in Peru. So He Sued an Energy Company in Germany,” The New York Times Magazine, Climate Issue (April 9, 2019). Mr. Ruskin reveals to author, Brooke Jarvis, contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, the litigation strategy he would recommend to fossil fuels manufacturers facing climate lawsuits.
• “Differentiating a Firm’s Services as a Solo Practitioner,” Thomson Reuters Westlaw (November 27, 2018).
• “The challenges and Potential Pitfalls of Retaining the Client’s Environmental Project Manager as Litigation Expert,” Committee Newsletter of the Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel (November 2018).
• “This Tiny Californian Beach Town is Suing Big Oil.  It Sees This as a Fight for Survival,” Inside Climate News (June 27, 2018).  Mr. Ruskin provides Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, David Hasemyer, his observations about the Imperial Beach lawsuit, which has swept up 37 companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, and the challenges that the plaintiffs will encounter attempting to prove that the fossil fuel companies named as defendants, and not other industrial emitters or countries, are responsible for the rising sea levels alleged.
• “Two City Lawsuits Against Big Oil Dismissed, But That’s Not the End of It,” Inside Climate News (June 26, 2018). Mr. Ruskin provides insights to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, David Hasemyer, concerning the dismissal by a federal judge in California of climate change litigation brought by San Francisco and Oakland against the fossil fuel industry. According to Mr. Ruskin, the cities were themselves responsible for their crumbling infrastructure. He commented, There is a failure on the part of our municipal, state and local governments to raise taxes or issue bonds to address these longstanding problems.”
• “Uranium Mines, Old and New, Fuel Litigation,” Bloomberg Law (January 18, 2018). Mr. Ruskin provides insight into the multi-billion dollar CERCLA cleanup liability for mining operators at hundreds of long-abandoned uranium mines throughout the United States.
• “Exxon Mobil, BP, Others Face New Climate Change Suits,” Bloomberg Law: Toxics Law Reporter (December 21, 2017). Mr. Ruskin offers a skeptical assessment of the legitimacy of using public nuisance theory against oil companies in seeking damages caused by climate change, such as rising sea levels.
• “Harvey Stokes More Superfund Liability Risk,” Bloomberg Law: Litigation (September 6, 2017). Mr. Ruskin discusses how companies face heightened environmental liability due to their release of toxic substances from hazardous waste and chemical storage sites as a result of superstorms like Katrina, Sandy and, most recently, Harvey.
• “Toxic Tort Litigation—A Primer,” New York State Bar Association (June 9, 2017)
• New Fracking Studies Not Fueling Toxic Tort Cases—Yet, Bloomberg BNA Toxics Law Reporter (November 22, 2016)
• Author: “Opportunities and Challenges: Social Media Marketing and Pharmaceuticals,” DRI – For The Defense (November 2014)
• Author: “Comcast v Behrend’s Impact on Toxic Tort Litigation,” Bloomberg BNA Toxics Law Reporter (August 7, 2014).
• Q&A with William Ruskin, Law360 (March 11, 2013)
• Author: “Shale Oil and Gas Development: The Stakeholder Perspective,” IADC (2013)
• Genetically Modified Food Can Feed the Planet, Life Sciences Law360 (January 29, 2013)
• “Lone Pine’s Impact on Pharma Products Litigation,” Law360 (January 22, 2013).
• Where Lies the Liability? Up to Plaintiffs to Prove, Products Liability Law360 (May 10, 2012)
• Author: “Losing the “Empty Chair” at Trial,” Product Liability Law360 (April 30, 2012).
• The MTBE Multi-District Litigation: A Litigation Status Update (September 15, 2011)
• REBUTTAL: Establishing Standards And Norms In Mediation, Law360 (August 2016)

Speeches and Presentations

• “Going Solo: The Challenges and Opportunities of the Solo Practirce of Law,” Webinar Presenter, International Association of Defense Counsel (September 28, 2022). 
• “Combatting Plaintiff’s Attempts to Convince Judges that Fairness Requires Asking for Millions of Dollars in Voir Dire and the Rise of Extreme Opinions in the Jury Room,” Webinar Presenter, International Association of Defense Counsel. Webinar presented by the Trial Techniques and Tactics Committee and the Product Liability Committee (April 8, 2020).
• “Best Practices and Recent Developments in Value Assurance Plans,” International Association of Defense Counsel, 2019 Annual Meeting, Asheville, North Carolina (July 9, 2019)
• “Should Counsel Retain the Client’s Environmental Project Manager as a Testifying Expert,” Webinar Presenter, Roux Environmental Engineering & Geology DPC (November 6, 2018).
• “The Challenges and Potential Pitfalls of Retaining the Client’s Environmental Project Manager as Litigation Expert,” Webinar Presenter, International Association of Defense Counsel. Webinar presented by the Environmental and Energy Law Committee (October 3, 2018)
• “Crisis and Tragedy–It’s What We Do!,” Moderator of panel discussion concerning environmental disaster response, International Association of Defense Counsel, 2018 Annual Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal (July 9, 2018)
• “Genetically Modified Food: Will the World’s Food Supply Be Blessed or Cursed?” Moderator, International Association of Defense Counsel, 2017 Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec (July 12, 2017)
• “Toxic Tort Litigation—Overview,” presented at the New York State Bar Association Seminar, “Toxic Tort Litigation 2017,” New York, NY (June 9, 2017)
• Shale Oil and Gas Development: Environmental Problem or Economic Solution in Search of a Problem?,” Speaker, International Association of Defense Counsel, 2013 Midyear Meeting, Boca Raton, Florida (February 11, 2013)