WILLIAM F. KELLY was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1954. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1977. He was a full time investigator and claims handler for Crawford and Company and later, G.A.B. Business Services while attending the evening division of Loyola Law School in New Orleans, obtaining his Juris Doctorate in 1983.

He has been a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association since 1984, and has been employed exclusively in the field of insurance defense litigation since 1986. He has litigated cases in every parish in Southeast Louisiana and has brought to verdict more than three dozen civil jury trials. He is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and in all Louisiana State Courts. He has been married since 1979 and has two daughters and two sons.