William Dillingham

1951 - 2015

William Otis Dillingham II

January 9, 1951 - August 3, 2015

William Otis ("Bill") Dillingham II, was born in Mineola, New York to James B. Dillingham and Margaret Mueller Dillingham, on January 9, 1951. He was the husband of Patricia C. Dillingham, the brother of Margaret W. Genovese, Robert G. Dillingham, John E. Dillingham, and James B. Dillingham, Jr., and the father of James C. Dillingham and William Otis Dillingham III.
Bill graduated from Garden City High School in Garden City New York in 1969. He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1973, and his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, in 1976 (Order of the Coif).
Bill then joined San Francisco's preeminent law firm, Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, as an associate attorney in 1977. Trained as a commercial litigator, Bill also devoted his efforts to pro bono issues, often for matters in which he had no personal stake except his abiding interest in justice and fairness for all: for example, he was a member of the team that obtained an order from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California requiring the United States to issue a visitor's visa to a self-declared gay visitor to the United States, which (in those times) was assertedly in violation of United States immigration law. Lesbian/Gay Freedom Day Committee, Inc. v. United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (N.D. Calif.1982) 541 F. Supp. 569.
In July 1982, Bill and another Pillsbury associate attorney co-founded the San Francisco law firm Dillingham & Murphy. Bill guided the firm from two lawyers and one overworked secretary in 1982, to a litigation boutique in 2015, employing 17 lawyers plus numerous supporting staff, engaged in litigation and related matters throughout California and the United States.
Bill was also a tireless entrepreneur. He balanced his career as a successful litigator with a series of business investments, most of which were successful and rewarding, both personally professionally. His tastes were eclectic. Bill and his wife Patti enjoyed exquisite homes in many diverse places, including Wakefield, Rhode Island (his summer residence), Las Vegas, Nevada, Napa, California, Hillsborough, California, and Wailea (Maui) Hawaii. They also operated a critically-acclaimed French restaurant in Berkeley, � La Carte, for a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s. Bill was a golf enthusiast and a member of the Silverado Country Club in Napa, California. Many of his favorite moments were spent at the Dunes Club in Narragansett, Rhode Island, and driving his speedboat through the Atlantic with his family.
Bill cared very much about and supported Yale University, and the St. Thomas More Chapel at Yale, where he served as a Director from 1990 until his death.
For his entire life, Bill was the center of a wide and loyal circle of diverse friends. He would throw himself into political discussions at the drop of a hat (or Scotch), and harbored a lifelong desire to dominate the board game Risk - especially with close friends and family. His favorite charities were St. Anthony's Meal Kitchen and the St. Thomas More Chapel at Yale, both of which he supported with enthusiasm. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions may be made to St. Anthony's San Francisco (http://www.stanthonysf.org//donatenow) or the charity of your choice.
Visitation will be on Thursday, August 6, 2015, at 7:30 PM at St. Catherine of Sienna Church, 1310 Bayswater Ave, Burlingame, CA, (650) 344-6884. A funeral mass will be held Friday, August 7, 2015, at 2:00 PM at St. Catherine of Sienna Church, 1310 Bayswater Ave, Burlingame, CA, (650) 344-6884.