Mary F. Williams Is Recognized
Mary Frances Williams graduated from the Jasper County Training School in Monticello in 1967 as class valedictorian.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Clark College in 1971, with honors. After a brief span as a classroom teacher in Georgia and a counselor at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., she decided to pursue her goal of becoming a trial lawyer.
That goal had originated during a childhood visit to the Jasper County Courthouse where she watched a hearing, while looking over the railing from seating that was once reserved for Blacks in the balcony above the main courtroom.
After obtaining a Juris Doctor Degree from the College of Law at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla., Mrs. Williams began her legal career as an Assistant Attorney General for Oklahoma. There, she handled a variety of legal matters, including drafting appellate briefs in criminal cases, both felonies and misdemeanors; she presented numerous oral arguments before the Appellate Courts; she successfully resolved numerous consumer complaints; and she provided legal counseling to State Agency Directors, Boards and Commissions on the interpretation and application of various state and federal statutes.
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After four years with the Office of the Attorney General, Mrs. Williams accepted a job offer with the federal government beginning with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Oklahoma City, eventually transferring to the Boston, Mass. field office and then to the FDIC’s Northeast Service Center in East Hartford, Ct.
Following a special project assignment at the FDIC’s East Hartford Office, Mrs. Williams worked as a Senior Compliance Consultant at MassMutual Financial Group in Springfield, Mass.
Mrs. Williams currently works for the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., as an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) trial attorney.
As a federal government attorney, Mrs. Williams has traveled extensively around the country, completing a variety of duties ranging from that of being lead closing attorney at a multi-billion dollar financial institution in Manchester, N.H.; arguing appellate matters before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, Calif. and before the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta; to deposing witnesses in places as far away as Honolulu, Hi.
Mrs. Williams is the daughter of Mrs. Bennie Grace Farley of Monticello and the late Nathaniel Allen of Gray. She lives in Waldorf, Md. with her husband, Clarrance Williams (Capt., USAF Retired). They are the parents of three adult children, Dr. Rodrick Williams of Shrewsbury, Mass., Ramona Williams of Houston, Tex. and Kissa Williams of South Windsor, Ct.
“While my legal career has always been challenging and somewhat out of the ordinary for a regular attorney, it has allowed me to spend valuable time with my family, whose support enabled me to pursue such a varied career. Of course, I must credit my concurrent role as a military spouse of 20 years as having afforded me the ability to succeed in a demanding environment.
“In my spare time, I perform volunteer work in the local community as a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. I also enjoy my life long hobbies of reading and oil painting.”
