Biography
Judge Matthew Williams retired from the Washington State Superior Court after presiding over hundreds of criminal and civil jury trials. He continues to be called upon to serve as a Judge Pro Tempore for both the Washington State Superior Court and the King County District Court.
Judge Williams continues to implement Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Initiatives in pre/post conflict nations and emerging democracies around the world. He has led such initiatives in Central Asia, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and within the former Soviet Republics. He also provides training and consultation for judges and advocates, as well as law enforcement and private entities.
Judge Williams was selected as Trial Judge of the Year in 2021 by the Washington chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He was awarded the Prentice Marshall Award for the Development of Innovative Teaching Methods by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) in 2016. From 2000 to 2016 Judge Williams served as the Program Director for many NITA Trial, Deposition, and Public Service Programs. He continues to train attorneys and judges throughout the United States for NITA and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC).
Prior to taking the bench, Judge Williams tried more than 300 cases (civil and criminal) to verdict as a trial attorney.
Judge Williams has taught Trial and Advocacy at Seattle University School of Law (formerly University of Puget Sound) since 1991, and teaches at the renowned Kessler-Eidson Trial Techniques Program at Emory School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a member of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Post-Pandemic Planning Workgroup and has provided consultation and training to judges throughout the United States.
He received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Nebraska (1980), and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Nebraska School of Law (1983). He began his legal career with the Attorneys General of Nebraska, Iowa, and Washington State. He handled death penalty and criminal appeals as well as complex ethics, civil rights, commercial and tax litigation involving major aerospace entities. Subsequently, he supervised Federal drug, weapons, and aviation enforcement. He served as the Supervising Attorney for the City of Seattle's major litigation unit and subsequently as the Managing Attorney of a mid-sized commercial litigation law firm.
From 2003 to 2010 he served as a General Manager with a national insurance carrier managing multiple business units across the United States while implementing best practices and data driven decision making. At the same time he served as a Special Disciplinary (Ethics) Counsel for the Washington State Bar Association and on the Washington State Enforcement of Lawyer Conduct (ELC) task force.
He holds the rank of Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. He has served as a martial arts and personal defense instructor. He flies his own aircraft and has logged thousands of hours as pilot-in-command.
