W. E. “Ned” Whittington, Wheaton College (B.A. 1973); Duke Law School (J.D. 1976). Editorial Board, Duke Law Journal.

As a young attorney, Mr. Whittington served as a Captain in the U.S. Army JAG Corps where he was a prosecutor in Germany. He also practiced in Chicago for nine years, where he was a partner at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd in Chicago, then a 180-lawyer firm which was later merged into K&L Gates. He moved to the Upper Valley (on the border of New Hampshire and Vermont) in 1989, where he was a partner and principal with Brooks McNally Whittington Platto & Vitt until 1997, and with Whittington Melendy & Girdwood from 1998 to 2002. Since January 2003 he has practiced as managing principal of Whittington Law Associates, PLLC.

As litigator, Mr. Whittington’s areas of practice have included commercial and business fraud, intellectual property including copyright and trademark infringement, construction, accountants’ and lawyers’ malpractice, employment and discrimination law. He has been lead counsel in over 100 trials, has more than 50 “reported” cases, and was lead counsel, and delivered the oral argument, at the U.S. Supreme Court in the much-cited 1995 case of Field v. Mans. He has argued frequently in the most significant appellate courts in the U.S., including, in addition to the U.S. Supreme Court, in the First, Second, Seventh and Eleventh U.S. Courts of Appeal, and the Vermont, New Hampshire and Illinois Supreme Courts.

As counselor, Mr. Whittington provides all aspects of business and legal advice and support, and has served for over four decades as outside general counsel to one of the largest religious publishing houses in the United States. He also has long-time clients in the nursing home, construction and professional services industries. He has represented publishers and authors concerning numerous works which became New York Times bestsellers, and has litigated copyright infringement issues in federal courts in New York, California, Alabama, and New Hampshire.