Zuberi Williams


Zuberi Bakari Williams is an associate judge of the District Court of Maryland, District VI - Montgomery County. He was appointed by former Governor Martin O'Malley in December 2014. He was later confirmed by the Maryland State Senate and sworn in on January 6, 2015. At the age of 36, Williams has the distinction of being one of the youngest judges to be appointed in Maryland history.

Early life and education

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 High School, La Plata, Maryland. In high school, Williams penned the winning essay in the McDonald's Black History Makers of Tomorrow contest for the DC metro area. His piece on his desire to practice civil rights law earned him college scholarship monies and stock in McDonald's and Coca-Cola.
Williams attended Texas Christian University 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, 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 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 degree from American University's Kogod School of Business.

Career

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.

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. Judge Lee had 2 clerks in his chambers that term: Judge Williams, who reached the bench at age 36 and Justin Fairfax, who was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2017 at the age of 38.
During their clerkship, Judge Lee's chambers handled many high-profile cases, including the following:
In 2007, Williams was sworn in as an assistant Attorney General for the District of Columbia, 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.

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.
In 2016, he was appointed as chair of the District Court Alternative Dispute Resolution. 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.
In 2017, Williams was appointed to the prestigious Judicial Compensation Committee.

Professional awards