William C. Ayer Jr. - Frankfort, KY

William C. Ayer, Jr. retired in 2024 after over 50 years of service to the Frankfort community.

William (Bill) C. Ayer, Jr. was born in Owensboro, KY and raised in Calhoun and Madisonville, KY. He graduated from Madisonville High School then enrolled at Murry State University after graduation. After graduating from Murry State, Bill attended the University of Kentucky Law School he obtained his J.D. in 1968.

Thereafter, Bill entered the US Army from and ROTC Commission and was stationed, for a majority of time, in Korea. While stationed in Korea, Bill was the Executive Officer for Brigadier General Harold G. Moore, the same solider who was the subject of the movie “We Were Soldiers” that starred Mel Gibson. After his tour of duty was finished, Bill returned to Madisonville, Kentucky to begin practicing law.

A short time thereafter, Bill moved to Frankfort, Kentucky in 1971 and was employed by the Kentucky Bar Association. In September 1972 he became the first attorney employee for the newly formed Kentucky Office of Public Defender. Bill eventually was promoted to the Deputy Public Defender in 1981. He remained in that position until leaving state government for private practice in 1983. In 1986 he and Larry W. Cleveland formed a law practice named Cleveland and Ayer, where they represented clients in private cases while acting as Assistant Commonwealth Attorneys. During this time, one of Bill’s most significant cases involved a very serious truck wreck that involved two children and their mother on Second Street in Frankfort, Kentucky. While representing these two children and their mother, Bill worked extensively alongside J. Guthrie True, who represented another victim of the same crash. Eventually, Bill took the case to trial and obtained a $9.1 million dollar verdict, which is one of the largest jury verdicts ever recorded in Franklin Circuit Court.

Bill continued practicing with Larry Cleveland, and acting as an Assistant Commonwealth Attorney, until 1998 when he decided to join J. Guthrie True and Richard M. Guarnieri at another firm. Since then, Bill has focused his practice on Property and Estate matters, such as real estate closings, title searches, deed preparations, estate planning, and probate matters. He also continues to represent clients in real estate and corporate litigation.

Bill is BV® Distinguished Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® for his professionalism and ethics.