Zuberi Williams

Background

Williams's father was raised in inner city Chicago, Illinois and his mother immigrated to the United States from Guyana, South America. Williams was born at Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC, on December 1, 1978. His parents settled in Southern Maryland.

Williams attended La Plata Senior High School, where he lettered in three sports — Cross Country, Wrestling, and Track and Field. In 1995, Williams was named as McDonald's Black History Maker of Tomorrow finalist for his essay aspiring to be a civil rights attorney and work through the law to provide fairness and opportunity to all Americans. As a finalist, Williams won a partial college scholarship.

College, Law School, and Business School

Williams attended Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas on an academic scholarship. While at TCU, Williams served on the Student Government Association as parliamentarian and earned a Bachelor of Business degree from the nationally ranked Neeley School of Business. He briefly lived in Guadalajara, Mexico and received a minor in Spanish culture and language.

Williams was accepted into American University's joint JD/MBA program in Washington DC in 2000. While at American University's Washington College of Law (WCL), Williams was a staff member of the American University Administrative Law Review and a student attorney with the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic. He also was a member of the Black Law Student Association (BLSA) and Business Law Society. Additionally, during his final year, Williams was a recipient of the Edward J. Walker Clinical Scholarship Award and appointed to the Admissions Committee. Most notably, he was elected by his colleagues to deliver the 2003 WCL Commencement Address. Williams was named to the WCL Dean's Diversity Council and often speaks on panels.

Williams earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from American University's Kogod School of Business.

State Clerkship

After law school, Williams earned a prestigious clerkship with Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge of Maryland's highest court, Maryland Court of Appeals, and the first African-American Chief Judge in Maryland history. During his clerkship, Williams had the opportunity to participate in the discussion and analysis of, and helped to draft, opinions on a multitude of legal issues ranging from death penalty appeals and criminal "knock and announce" policies, to zoning disputes and Maryland Freedom of Information Act requests.

Private Law Firm

In 2004, Williams joined Venable LLP, a top 20 ranked DC law firm, by the National Law Journal and an AmLaw 100 law firm . There, he was a member of the White Collar Crime practice group.

Federal Clerkship

In 2005, Williams pursued a federal clerkship with United States District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee at the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria). During his clerkship, Judge Lee's chambers handled many high-profile cases, including the following:

Government Attorney

In 2007, Williams was sworn in as an Assistant Attorney General for the District of Columbia (Office of the Attorney General for DC), where he tried cases involving employment discrimination, personal injury, false arrest, police assault, inmate assaults, and whistleblower claims in both federal and state courts.

Administrative Law Judge

In 2010, Judge Williams was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge at the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings. There, he presided over hundreds of cases including those concerning DUIs, child abuse and neglect, conditional release, involuntary admission to mental facilities, and wrongful employment termination.

He was also named an expert/subject matter specialist in Child, Abuse, and Neglect matters.

District Court Judge

On December 30, 2014, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley announced the appointment of Williams to the District Court in Montgomery County, Maryland. At the age of 36, Williams has the distinction of being one of the youngest judges to be appointed in Maryland history. He was later confirmed by the Maryland State Senate and sworn in on January 6, 2015.

Williams wasted no time taking on leadership roles in the judiciary. In 2016, he was appointed as chair of the District Court Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Also, he was invited to be a contributing participant in the Maryland General Assembly legislative initiative called the Justice Reinvestment Act. It is the largest and most comprehensive criminal justice reform in Maryland history.

Williams has handled the following notable cases:

Professional Awards

In 2016, Williams was spotlighted by the ABA's Section on Litigation for his participation in Judicial Interneship Opportunity Program (JIOP). Specifically, the ABA's JIOP praised Williams as the first person in the nation to complete the program while in law school and then later become judge. In his interview, Williams was quoted as saying his philosophy is to: "Strive for excellence every day that you walk into chambers, because justice demands it."

In 2015, Williams received the North Star Award from the Sylvania Woods African Americans in the Law Conference. This award acknowledges outstanding service by an African American to the Washington, DC community. Its past honorees include jurists, academics, legal executives, and journalists.

In 2008, Williams received the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) Extra Mile Attorney Award. This award is given to outstanding trial attorneys at OAG who provide exemplary services that substantially exceeded the norm. -- they go the "extra mile."

In 2005, Williams received the Hariston Alumni Award by the Sylvania Woods African Americans in the Law Conference. This award is given to outstanding WCL Alumni that give their time and resources back to the law school.