William R. "Bill" Tapella
William R. "Bill" Tapella practices in the area of civil litigation, including medical malpractice,
significant personal injury, trucking, railroad crossing, wrongful death, products liability and other tort litigation.
In addition to his civil litigation practice, Bill represents, not-for-profit clients, and businesses including the Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative, Lanman Oil, Inc., Curry Construction, Inc., and Drake Homes, Inc.
Bill grew up in Herrin Illinois in Williamson County, between Marion and Carbondale, where his parents still live. Following high school, he attended Eastern Illinois University and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Southern Illinois University in 1981.
While at SIU, Bill began work in politics with the Carter-Mondale Reelection Committee. Following graduation, he worked for Congressman Paul Simon, as the campaign manager for Congressman Simon's 1980 reelection campaign. After Congressman Simon’s successful reelection, Bill moved to Washington, D.C., and traveled throughout the country working for six years on numerous state and national Democratic campaigns. In 1986, Bill moved to Boston, where he worked for the Pyramid Companies in the development of regional shopping centers, including the Independence Mall, a 600,000 square foot regional shopping center in Kingston, Massachusetts.
In 1991, Bill returned home to Illinois and entered the University of Illinois, College of Law. While there, he received numerous academic honors, including admission to the Order of Coif and designation as a Harno Scholar. Bill graduated from the University of Illinois, College of Law in 1994, Magna Cum Laude.
Following graduation, Bill worked in Mattoon, Illinois. In 1996, Bill and Mitchell K. Shick opened the Law Offices of Shick & Tapella in Charleston, Illinois. When Mr. Shick left the practice to become a judge, Bill merged his practice with John Hefner and David Eberspacher forming Hefner, Eberspacher & Tapella in 2001.
In his practice, Bill has been recognized by his peers as an AV rated attorney, indicating that fellow lawyers have conferred upon him a Preeminent Rating, the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards. Bill has obtained numerous million dollar and multi-million dollar results for his clients, including record medical malpractice verdicts.
Bill is the author of "Constitutional Law/Due Process/Judicial Admonitions, "Illinois Bar Journal 81:605 and Comparative Fault, Contribution and Joint and Several Liability: An Argument Against Reconciliation, "Illinois Br Journal 88:694. He serves on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers, is a member of the Coles-Cumberland County Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice.
Bill is married to Lela Tapella and has two children, Mia and Will. He and Lela live on a small farm just outside of Ashmore, Illinois. Bill is an avid upland bird hunter and a lifetime member of Pheasants Forever, as well as other habitat and environmental organizations.
