As E.H. Williams II Law & Strategy PLLC launches, founder Ed Williams sat down to discuss why he started the firm, the work ahead, and what he hopes to build.
What made you decide to leave BigLaw and start this firm?
“I believe we’re in a particularly challenging moment as a country, and I think that lawyers who, like me, have spent their careers serving clients at the highest levels — in litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, but also advising clients on how to navigate difficult political and cultural climates — this is a prime opportunity to use those skills to try to advance the causes of democracy, civil rights, and diversity, especially when those particular issues are under such fierce attack.”
What kind of work will the firm focus on?
“The firm is really designed to build on work that I’ve already done in my career. Work like defending a scholarship-granting organization that gives scholarships to underserved students, with race being a component of the application process. Work like advising other scholarship-granting organizations — organizations really focused on economic uplift in particular racial communities — and amplifying their ability to do that, protecting their ability to do that work. Work like advising nonprofits, governments, and universities on how to navigate the cultural and political climate — what do the new executive orders mean for their institutions, for their mission, for their ability to accomplish their mission in the current environment?
“The work really fits into two primary categories. One is what I would call civil rights–focused litigation — at the trial level, appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. And then strategic advice and counseling, which I imagine will be a lot of the work of the firm: helping clients and institutions figure out how to keep doing the work that is mission-aligned — the work that drove them to form these organizations in the first place — in this moment.”
What’s the significance of the firm’s name and tagline, “Where the law meets the moment”?
“Williams II Law & Strategy as a name is really just trying to signal who we are and who the firm is trying to be. It’s both trying to be a law firm and a strategic advice and counseling firm — that’s really the bread and butter of the work.
“As for the tagline, ‘Where the law meets the moment’ — it’s trying to capture this idea that institutions, in moments of crisis — whether that’s our country in a crisis of democracy, a university in crisis over diversity, or a mission-aligned organization in crisis over some issue germane to its work — my job, our job and work at the firm, is to meet the moment. To acknowledge the moment we’re in, and then advise, counsel, and, ultimately, if necessary, litigate to a successful end.”
Tell us about your background.
“I graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law and then clerked for now-retired Chief Judge Richard Roberts on the U.S. District Court for D.C., and then clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for Judge Patricia Millett. Outside of my federal clerkships, I’ve spent my career at three of the best, largest, and most successful firms in the country — Skadden, WilmerHale, and Orrick. I’ve been able to learn from some amazing lawyers — Supreme Court advocates like Josh Rosenkranz and Seth Waxman, strategic advisers like Jamie Gorelick and Cliff Sloan.
“I think of myself as having studied under the masters — both my federal judges and many of the lawyers I’ve had the blessing to work under in my career. Now I’m hoping to take what I’ve learned in those environments — from my clerkships, from my work at those firms — and use it to meet this particular moment for the clients I hope to serve.”
You’ve structured the firm around co-counsel relationships with organizations like the ACLU of Georgia, Civil Rights Corps, and Democracy Forward. What does that partnership model look like?
“I’ve previously worked alongside the ACLU of Georgia — I helped lead a trial team that successfully redrew the Georgia State House and Georgia State Senate districts, in my home state of Georgia. I’ve worked alongside Civil Rights Corps on two cases involving the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections — one during COVID, where we were trying to get improved health and sanitation for those serving time there, most of whom were there pretrial. And a related pretrial detention and bail case, also with Civil Rights Corps.
“For Democracy Forward, I worked on what ultimately became the first successful challenge to President Trump’s original DEI executive orders, back in January of 2025.
“I’m hoping to continue doing work alongside those civil rights partners as a bit of an extender for them. Large law firms are walking away from the bigger projects that used to be the heart of the pro bono world in combination with major, leading civil rights organizations. I think there’s a real opportunity to continue working alongside them and expand their capacity to do their mission-aligned work.”
A year or two from now, what would success look like for the firm?
“My hope is that mission-driven organizations and institutions — whether that’s a nonprofit, a government entity, a corporation, or a university — when they’re having a moment where they think, we really need someone who understands the stakes, who understands how important it is to us to keep doing our mission-driven work, and we need someone who can help us navigate the legal complexities, the cultural moment, the political challenges — I want them to think: this is the time we need to call E.H. Williams II Law & Strategy. We need to get Ed on the phone. We need Ed in the room. We need Ed to help us figure this out.
“The next year or two, for me, is about doing work that is commensurate and consistent with that reputation — and building that reputation so people know to call when they need us.”