William P. Lynch

Judge Lynch graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law. He practiced law in Roswell for sixteen years, mostly in trial practice. In 1995 he was appointed to serve as a state district judge in New Mexico’s Fifth Judicial District. As a general jurisdiction judge, Judge Lynch was responsible for a caseload of approximately 1300 cases per year that involved a broad range of civil, criminal and domestic relations issues. Judge Lynch was frequently selected by the New Mexico Supreme Court or the parties to preside over complex cases, such as a class action lawsuit alleging price fixing by 22 prescription drug manufacturers filed in Las Vegas, New Mexico and six consolidated wrongful death cases arising out of an El Paso Natural Gas pipeline explosion that occurred in Eddy County. During that time he served for nine years on the New Mexico Rules of Civil Procedure Committee, and was chair of the Committee for the last six years.

Judge Lynch was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge in 2005. He handled a variety of civil and criminal cases in Las Cruces and Albuquerque until he retired in the fall of 2017. The parties in civil cases often consented to having Judge Lynch serve as their trial judge, he conducted hundreds of settlement conferences while on the state and federal bench, and he was a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars.

In 2001 Judge Lynch received a Master of Judicial Studies degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, and his master’s thesis examined problems presented by Court-annexed mandatory arbitration programs adopted in New Mexico. (“Problems with Court-Annexed Mandatory Arbitration: Illustrations from the New Mexico Experience,” 32 N. M. L. Rev. 181 (2002)). Judge Lynch also published an article on Rule 68 offers of judgment, recommending that federal court adopt some of the innovative offer of judgment provisions enacted in state courts. (“Rule 68 Offers of Judgment: Lessons From the New Mexico Experience,” 39 N. M. L. Rev. 349 (2009)). His third article addresses the role and proper scope of treating physician testimony at trial, what disclosures must be made about their testimony under Rule 26 during discovery, and whether treating physicians may testify about causation at trial. (“Doctoring the Testimony: Treating Physicians, Rule 26, and the Challenges of Causation Testimony,” 33 Rev. Litig. 249 (2014)). His most recent article analyzes the dynamics of settlement conferences in federal court by examining recent studies of decision making and negotiation theory and practice, and proposes several improvements to the settlement conference process. ("Why Settle for Less? Improving Settlement Conferences in Federal Court," 94 Wash. L. Rev. 1233 (Oct. 2019)). A shorter version of this article has been published as "Improving Settlement Conferences in Federal Court," 29 The Circuit Rider, The Journal of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association 28 (Sept. 2021).

Selected Opinions Authored in Federal Court:

Griego v. Douglas, 264 F.Supp.3d 1109 (D.N.M. 2017) (Claims of bad faith participation at settlement conference)

Ortiz v. Safeco Ins. Co., 207 F.Supp.3d 1216 (D.N.M. 2016) (Bifurcation of underinsured motorist and bad faith claims under New Mexico law)

Leyba v. City of Santa Fe, 198 F.Supp.3d 1254 (D.N.M. 2016) (Civil rights claims against City of Santa Fe 911 Center after police shooting)

Fuller v. Finley Resources, Inc., 176 F.Supp.3d 1263 (D.N.M. 2016) (Whether use of cell phone at time of automobile accident is sufficient basis for punitive damage award)

Carrillo v. Penn National Gaming, Inc., 172 F.Supp.3d 1204 (D.N.M. 2016) (Civil rights claims by race horse owner excluded from horse racing by New Mexico race tracks)

Sinclair v. Zurich American Ins. Co., 129 F.Supp.3d 1252 (D.N.M. 2015) (Whether attorney’s litigation conduct is admissible as evidence of bad faith against insurer)

Wilson v. Brennan, 666 F.Supp.2d 1242 (D.N.M. 2009) (Copyright infringement claims against the Tour of the Gila, a multi-stage bicycle race)

Lucero v. Valdez, 240 F.R.D. 591 (D.N.M. 2007) (Analysis of contention interrogatories in discovery dispute)

• Master of Judicial Studies, University of Nevada at Reno, Reno, Nevada (2001).
• Juris Doctor, University of Illinois School of Law, Champaign, Illinois (1979).
• Bachelor of Arts, History, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois (1975).

U.S. Magistrate Judges Association, 2005 - 2017; State of New Mexico District Judges Association, 1995 - 2005; New Mexico Rules of Civil Procedure Committee, 1996-2005; Camp Sierra Blanca, 2000-2004; Adjunct Instructor of Business Law, Eastern New Mexico University Roswell, 2002-2003; Chaves County Juvenile Justice Advisory Board and Project Guidance Board, 1999-2002; George L. Reese, Jr. Chapter of American Inns of Court, 1993-2001; Chaves County Domestic Violence Task Force, 1996-1999; Reach 2000, 1989-1998.

Mediations: $450 per hour plus gross receipts tax.

Arbitrations: $500 per hour plus gross receipts tax.