Partner

William E. Raney

  • J.D., University of Virginia, 1995
  • B.A., Psychology, University of Missouri, 1992 magna cum laude
  • B.J., Journalism, University of Missouri, 1992
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals
  • U.S. District Court, District of Kansas
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri
  • Kansas
  • Missouri
  • First Amendment
  • Telemarketing
  • Regulatory and Compliance
  • Class Action Defense
  • Editor, Telemarketing Connections® Newsletter
  • Numerous corporate compliance seminars

William focuses on First Amendment issues and compliance with federal and state telemarketing and privacy laws. His clients range from large international corporations to smaller independent outsourced service providers. In particular, William provides counsel on compliance with telemarketing laws including registrations, do-not-call issues and other consumer protection issues. He also advises clients regarding privacy laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding data security, breach notification and intended use disclosures. He tracks applicable state and federal regulations and publishes a monthly newsletter for his clients.

William is an experienced civil litigator whose practice focuses on constitutional challenges, regulatory actions and consumer class action defense. He defends companies in a variety of class and individual actions including claims alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and unauthorized call recording under California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). He also represents businesses before the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Internal Revenue Service and numerous state agencies and courts.

In 2020, partners William Raney and Kellie Mitchell Bubeck appeared on brief before the Supreme Court representing political organizations in a constitutional challenge to the TCPA in Barr v. Am. Ass’n of Political Consultants, 140 S. Ct. 2335 (2020). The Supreme Court agreed with our clients and ruled the TCPA’s debt-collection exemption violated the First Amendment.

In 2015, William obtained Customer Engagement Compliance Professional (CECP) certification and participated as a speaker in the Professional Association for Customer Engagement training summit.

In 2003, William appeared before the Supreme Court with firm founder Errol Copilevitz in the First Amendment charitable fundraising case Illinois ex rel. Madigan v. Telemarketing Assocs., 538 U.S. 600.

In 2007, William testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives about state and federal regulation of prerecorded telephone calls.

William is a board member of the ACLU of Missouri and is an active member of his church All Souls Unitarian Universalist. He lives in Kansas City with his wife and three children. He is an avid cook and runs marathons and other races in his spare time.