Wendell Bird is an American legal historian who formerly practiced law (nonprofit organizations and litigation).
[8] He has published three tax chapters and more than 20 articles on the laws affecting nonprofit organizations and charitable giving.
[12] In litigation Bird primarily represented securities claims, such as a suit against Merrill Lynch and its Focus Twenty Fund,[13] or a suit against TH Lee Putnam Ventures and Merrill Lynch,[14] both of which resulted in favorable decisions; and charitable fraud and diversion claims, such as a suit on behalf of the M. L. Simpson Foundation.
[15][16] In 2004, Bird represented APA Excelsior III (owned by predecessor to APAX Partners) and other large Wall Street private equity funds (managed by APAX Partners) in a federal court lawsuit alleging securities law violations in connection with a sale to Healthfield Holdings, Inc.[17][18] In 2000-2002, he represented the Bengard Group in a trial and appeal involving sale of a business, winning in excess of $44 million.
[19] In the early 1980s, Bird worked for an Atlanta law firm, and also served as a special assistant attorney general for the State of Louisiana, for which he argued Edwards v. Aguillard to the U.S. Supreme Court.