Victor Williams
Clinical Assistant Professor
Victor Williams is a clinical assistant professor in the Lawyering Skills Program. He teaches Law and Economics and Lawyering Skills.
Victor earned three law degrees: an LL.M. (specializing in Law and Economics) from George Mason University School of Law in 2005; an LL.M. from Columbia University's School of Law in 1994; and a J.D. from the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in 1990. While in law school, he was an articles editor of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. Victor also served as a student editor of American Review of International Arbitration while completing his graduate law study at Columbia.
Victor served as a federal judicial law clerk with U.S. District Court Judge W. B. Hand from1990-1992. Victor also worked as a federal judicial extern for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge G.B. Tjoflat of the Eleventh Circuit and for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Sneed of the Ninth Circuit. Additionally, he interned with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, working on enforcement issues at the SEC's regional office in Los Angeles.
Prior to affiliating with The Columbus School of Law, Victor Williams held a tenured appointment as an associate professor of Law with the City University of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice. At CUNY, he taught a variety of law and policy courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
A first-generation college student from Arkansas, Victor has demonstrated a life-long commitment to education. He earned his undergraduate degree at Ouachita University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, before journeying to Chicago to complete a master's degree in teaching from the National College of Education. He then completed an additional master's degree in education and public policy from Harvard University. It was course work at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government with law-trained faculty that led Victor to law school.
Victor's published scholarship, covering a wide variety of law and policy areas, is frequently cited by other authors. His academic writings include articles and essays published by the law journals of Michigan, William & Mary, Columbia, George Mason, Kentucky, Marquette, Seton Hall and Loyola. His practice-oriented articles and essays have been published by the Banking Law Journal, Commercial Law Journal, Administrative Law Journal, American Journal of Comparative Law, Trial, Judicature and Federal Lawyer.
Additionally, Victor has published commentaries and op-eds in The American Lawyer, Christian Science Monitor, National Law Journal, Connecticut Law Tribune, Jurist.org, Legal Times, New Jersey Law Journal, Fulton County Daily Report, Miami Business Daily, and the Recorder. Victor's present research interests include law and economics, the federal appointment process, ethics, administrative law, constitutional law and intellectual property.
Victor earned three law degrees: an LL.M. (specializing in Law and Economics) from George Mason University School of Law in 2005; an LL.M. from Columbia University's School of Law in 1994; and a J.D. from the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in 1990. While in law school, he was an articles editor of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. Victor also served as a student editor of American Review of International Arbitration while completing his graduate law study at Columbia.
Victor served as a federal judicial law clerk with U.S. District Court Judge W. B. Hand from1990-1992. Victor also worked as a federal judicial extern for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge G.B. Tjoflat of the Eleventh Circuit and for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Sneed of the Ninth Circuit. Additionally, he interned with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, working on enforcement issues at the SEC's regional office in Los Angeles.
Prior to affiliating with The Columbus School of Law, Victor Williams held a tenured appointment as an associate professor of Law with the City University of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice. At CUNY, he taught a variety of law and policy courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
A first-generation college student from Arkansas, Victor has demonstrated a life-long commitment to education. He earned his undergraduate degree at Ouachita University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, before journeying to Chicago to complete a master's degree in teaching from the National College of Education. He then completed an additional master's degree in education and public policy from Harvard University. It was course work at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government with law-trained faculty that led Victor to law school.
Victor's published scholarship, covering a wide variety of law and policy areas, is frequently cited by other authors. His academic writings include articles and essays published by the law journals of Michigan, William & Mary, Columbia, George Mason, Kentucky, Marquette, Seton Hall and Loyola. His practice-oriented articles and essays have been published by the Banking Law Journal, Commercial Law Journal, Administrative Law Journal, American Journal of Comparative Law, Trial, Judicature and Federal Lawyer.
Additionally, Victor has published commentaries and op-eds in The American Lawyer, Christian Science Monitor, National Law Journal, Connecticut Law Tribune, Jurist.org, Legal Times, New Jersey Law Journal, Fulton County Daily Report, Miami Business Daily, and the Recorder. Victor's present research interests include law and economics, the federal appointment process, ethics, administrative law, constitutional law and intellectual property.
Most recently, the Huffington Post.com (HuffPo) has featured a series of his commentaries on the federal appointments process.
Since locating in the D.C. area, Victor has been very active in community affairs. He has also held a private sector consultancy in telecommunications and legislative affairs, and he has taught Intellectual Property and E-Commerce at the University of Virginia's Northern Campus.
A frequent media interview guest, Victor has provided evaluation of legal and political issues by print, television, radio, and Internet media. He has been an interview guest on CNN; NPR, Court TV; Fox News; ABC News; and numerous radio talk programs.
Articles, Commentaries and Op-Eds
Since locating in the D.C. area, Victor has been very active in community affairs. He has also held a private sector consultancy in telecommunications and legislative affairs, and he has taught Intellectual Property and E-Commerce at the University of Virginia's Northern Campus.
A frequent media interview guest, Victor has provided evaluation of legal and political issues by print, television, radio, and Internet media. He has been an interview guest on CNN; NPR, Court TV; Fox News; ABC News; and numerous radio talk programs.
Articles, Commentaries and Op-Eds
Recess Appointments: Challenging Senate Obstruction, Jurist.org (December 19, 2011)
By Nuclear Threat or Weekend Recess, Huffington Post (October 10, 2011).
Tea Party Ugly: House Blocks Obama Appointments Through 2012, Huffington Post (August 21, 2011).
House GOP Can’t Block Recess Appointments, 33 National Law Journal 39 (August 15, 2011); reprinted by New Jersey Law Journal (August 16, 2011).
Unconstitutional Debt Ceiling: Grandma Bondholder’s Emergency Lawsuit, Huffington Post (July 29, 2011).
End the “Trips and Traps”: Recess Appoint Elizabeth Warren CFPB Head, Huffington Post (July 15, 2011).
A Quick Fix for Senate’s Broken Confirmation Process, 27 Connecticut Law Tribune 29 (July 4, 2011).
Lame Duck Fights: Confirm OMB’s Jack Lew, DOJ’s Jim Cole and 23 Judges, Huffington Post (November 17, 2010).
Senate Pro Forma Follies: Recess Appointment Authority is Not Limited by Sham Sessions, National Law Journal 51 (October 11, 2010); reprinted by New Jersey Law Journal (November 5, 2010).
Recess Appoint Peter Diamond, Huffington Post (October 11, 2010).
Elizabeth Warren, Bill Gross, and the “New Normal” of Federal Appointments, Huffington Post (Sept. 20, 2010).
Obama Recess Appointments: Confronting Senate Confirmation Obstruction in Summer 2010, Huffington Post (June 4, 2010).
Vetting Obama’s Judges: The Case for Christopher Schroeder Huffington Post (March 9, 2010).
How Obama Should Bypass Appointment Obstruction, Huffington Post (March 1, 2010).
Vacancies a Threat to National Security: President Obama Demands Senate Action, Huffington Post (February 14, 2010).
Implementing ,”Yes We Can,’ Huffington Post (February 9, 2010).
DOJ Appointments, HuffingtonPost.com (February 3, 2010; republished by Main Justice (Feb. 4, 2010). (Co-authored).
Ben Bernanke Should Be Reappointed Fed Chair: Discuss, Jurist.org (January 27, 2010).
The Case for Recess Appointing Bernanke: Fighting Confirmation Obstruction, Huffington Post (Jan. 25, 2010). (Co-authored).
Confirmation Combat, National Law Journal, 37 (January 4, 2010). (Co-authored).
Averting a Crisis: The Next President’s Appointment Strategy, National Law Journal, 14 (March 10, 2008)
(Republished in the New Jersey Law Journal, Broward Business Daily, Miami Business Daily.)
Estrada, National Law Journal, 12 (March 10, 2003).
Justice Denied, American Lawyer Magazine 75-77 (Oct. 2001).
Recast the Vote: Puerto Rico's (temporary?) Entrance into the Electoral College, Legal Times 86 (republished in the Fulton County Daily) (Oct. 2, 2000).
No Censure: No Scarlet Letter Option, Legal Times, 14 (republished in Fulton County Daily) Dec. 14, 1998).
No Short Cut in Censure, Legal Times, 32 (republished in The Recorder) (Sept. 21, 1998).
A Constitutional Charge and a Comparative Vision to Subject Matter Specialize the Federal Judiciary, 37 William and Mary Law Review 535-671 (1996). Excerpt selected for inclusion in Mary Ann Glendon, “Comparative Legal Traditions: Text, Material and Cases on Western Law (West, 3rd Ed. 2007) (see pgs. 125-136).
No Censure: No Scarlet Letter Option, Legal Times, 14 (republished in Fulton County Daily) Dec. 14, 1998).
No Short Cut in Censure, Legal Times, 32 (republished in The Recorder) (Sept. 21, 1998).
A Constitutional Charge and a Comparative Vision to Subject Matter Specialize the Federal Judiciary, 37 William and Mary Law Review 535-671 (1996). Excerpt selected for inclusion in Mary Ann Glendon, “Comparative Legal Traditions: Text, Material and Cases on Western Law (West, 3rd Ed. 2007) (see pgs. 125-136).
Keep Judiciary Out of Budget Battle, Christian Science Monitor 19 (January 29, 1996) anthologized in the U.S. Federal Judicial Center's Caseflow Management Online Conference Handbook (FJC 1996).
Punitive Damages in Commercial Arbitration: Mastrobuono, 100 Commercial Law Journal 281-319 (1995).
The Willful Standard in Bank Statutes: Ratzlaf Revisited , BANKING LAW ANTHOLOGY 45 (1995) (first published in 112 Banking Law Journal 660-683 (1995)).
In Whose Interests: Evaluating Attorney Fee Awards and Contingent-Fee Agreements in Social Security Disability Benefit Cases, 47 Administrative Law Review 115-170 (1995) (coauthored).
Ozone Depletion, Developing Countries and Human Rights, 10 Natural Resources and Environmental Law 83-111 (1995).
Third Branch Independence and Integrity Threatened by Political Branch Irresponsibility: Reviewing the Report of the National Commission on Judicial Discipline and Removal, 5 Seton Hall Constitutional Law 851-932 (1995).
Extremist Threats to Fragile Democracies: A Proposal for an East European Marshall Plan, 15 Michigan Journal of International Law 863-908 (1994).
Rethinking Article II, Section 1 and its Twelfth Amendment Restatement, 77 Marquette Law Review 210-257 (1994) (coauthored).
The Willful Standard in Bank Statutes: Ratzlaf Revisited , BANKING LAW ANTHOLOGY 45 (1995) (first published in 112 Banking Law Journal 660-683 (1995)).
In Whose Interests: Evaluating Attorney Fee Awards and Contingent-Fee Agreements in Social Security Disability Benefit Cases, 47 Administrative Law Review 115-170 (1995) (coauthored).
Ozone Depletion, Developing Countries and Human Rights, 10 Natural Resources and Environmental Law 83-111 (1995).
Third Branch Independence and Integrity Threatened by Political Branch Irresponsibility: Reviewing the Report of the National Commission on Judicial Discipline and Removal, 5 Seton Hall Constitutional Law 851-932 (1995).
Extremist Threats to Fragile Democracies: A Proposal for an East European Marshall Plan, 15 Michigan Journal of International Law 863-908 (1994).
Rethinking Article II, Section 1 and its Twelfth Amendment Restatement, 77 Marquette Law Review 210-257 (1994) (coauthored).
Founders Mandated Federal Role in Crime Control, National Law Journal 15 (November 8, 1993).
Solutions to Federal Judicial Gridlock, 76 Judicature 185-193 (1993).
Unconstitutional Bills of Attainder or Valid Impeachment Convictions? The Walter Nixon and Alcee Hastings Impeachment Cases, 22 Southwestern Univ. Law Review 1077-1101 (1993).
Solutions to Federal Judicial Gridlock, 76 Judicature 185-193 (1993).
Unconstitutional Bills of Attainder or Valid Impeachment Convictions? The Walter Nixon and Alcee Hastings Impeachment Cases, 22 Southwestern Univ. Law Review 1077-1101 (1993).
Senators Cannot Be Choosers, National Law Journal 15 (February 1, 1993).
Help Wanted: Federal Judges-Judicial Gridlock, 24 Loyola University -Chicago Law Journal 1-38 (1992).
Help Wanted: Federal Judges-Judicial Gridlock, 24 Loyola University -Chicago Law Journal 1-38 (1992).
BOOK REVIEWS:
Review of Thomas Baker's Rationing Justice, 43 Federal Lawyer 50-52 (1996).
Review of Martin Friedland's The Death of Old Man Rice, 18 Justice System Journal 207-210 (1995).
Review of Paul Mones' Stalking Justice, 39 Trial 76 (1995).
A Superior, Inferior Judge: Review of Gerald Gunther's Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge, 78 Judicature 152-153 (1994).
The Struggle for Russia Continues, Review of Ruslan Khasbulatov's Struggle for Russia, 1 Columbia University's Parker School Journal of East European Law 75-85 (1994).
Review of Walter Laqueur's Black Hundred, 41 American Journal of Comparative Law 678-685 (1993).
Review of Martin Friedland's The Death of Old Man Rice, 18 Justice System Journal 207-210 (1995).
Review of Paul Mones' Stalking Justice, 39 Trial 76 (1995).
A Superior, Inferior Judge: Review of Gerald Gunther's Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge, 78 Judicature 152-153 (1994).
The Struggle for Russia Continues, Review of Ruslan Khasbulatov's Struggle for Russia, 1 Columbia University's Parker School Journal of East European Law 75-85 (1994).
Review of Walter Laqueur's Black Hundred, 41 American Journal of Comparative Law 678-685 (1993).