WORK EXPERIENCE
Having developed keen interpersonal and analytical skills while serving as Student Body President at three
educational institutions (i.e. the proverbial "hat trick" in the Carolina Hurricanes hockey vernacular),
Marcus W. Williams was prepared to optimize his clients' interests in any adjudicatory environment.
He was the first person elected as Student Body President at Lumberton High School after the consolidation of the
Lumberton City Schools, and led the student delegation to Portland, Oregon in Lumberton's successful attempt to
capture All-American City designation.
In 1974, he was honored to be elected as Student Body President at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where among other accomplishments
he initiated mass transit on campus; achieved greater control over a larger percentage of the student activity fee; implemented a more efficient and
currently utilized unicameral form of student government known as the Campus Governing Council; pursued the FCC application for UNC-FM and established
the first ombudsman to monitor the quality of health services for the more than 20,000 students.
In 1978, as the first minority ever elected President of the Student Body at the University of Minnesota Law School, he
exhibited strong leadership in the coordination of contracts, book store services, legal studies curriculum and scheduling to facilitate the much desired move
into the new, state of the art, West Bank (of the Mississippi) Law School.
Perhaps it was the exposure to work at age 10 in the tobacco fields of Robeson County, that informed and instilled in Marcus, early in his career,
that representation of poor was one of the most important quests that a lawyer could pursue. His civil law advocacy acumen as a law school clerk, a Reginald Heber Smith Community
Lawyer Fellow and as Staff Attorney quickly propelled him into the role of Executive Director of Legal Services
of the Coastal Plains, an eleven county program based in Ahoskie, N.C. Those counties included Bertie, Camden, Chowan,
Currituck, Dare, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank and Perquimans.
Subsequently, Marcus served as Attorney/Executive
Director of two other larger, non-profit legal services organizations, including the seven county Southeastern N.C.
non-profit organization entitled Legal Services of the Lower Cape Fear, situated in Wilmington, N.C. The service area encompassed Bladen, Brunswick,
Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties.
Marcus W. Williams worked in a diverse range of legal forums and courtrooms while addressing a myriad of statutory,
procedural, constitutional and ancillary legal issues which were paramount to the survival of many clients and
their families. He served as an active practitioner, litigation supervisor or co-counsel in a broad array of
civil and quasi-civil legal matters. They included, inter alia, the matters delineated in the following
chart, as excerpted from an Annual Report of one of the legal services organizations (a statewide entity)
which he spearheaded and for which he promulgated policy directives.
It should be noted that Marcus W. Williams and his respective staffs provided accessible quality
legal assistance; balanced all annual budgets and conscientiously administered legal services
programs for 17 consecutive years, while upholding the highest standards of financial accountability
and interpersonal integrity. Moreover, he and his staff went the "extra mile" by initiating and
facilitating various community enhancement and economic development projects. These included the
construction of 79 units of HUD 202 housing units; the construction and purchase of twelve
(1,500 sq. ft.) business condo units to serve as a business incubator; the establishment of
a vibrant Community Development Corporation which engaged in the creation of a home ownership
low interest loan program and the construction of single family homes; and the renovation of
old school buildings to foster community health, education and intergenerational interaction.
In his capacity as an Assistant Public Defender in Robeson County, District 16B,
Marcus W. Williams represented thousands of clients in a wide spectrum of criminal
matters involving alleged criminal law infractions, minor and serious misdemeanors and
felonies. This experience of representing indigent criminal defendants has bolstered his
reputation as a "blue collar" lawyer who quests for justice and promotes individual
responsibility. Clearly it has provided Marcus W. Williams with invaluable knowledge
and insight into the operational universe of the day to day criminal adjudicatory process.
Further, it has underscored the systematic need for firm, fair and consistent sentencing.
Williams has been recognized by his colleagues for his indefatigable advocacy and stellar
stewardship of effective Legal Services Programs. He was elected and served as Chairman
of the N.C. Association of Legal Services Project Directors from 1994 through 1996. In 1996,
an award from the Southeastern United States Association was bestowed upon Marcus W. Williams
for meritorious service. Additionally, in 1997, he was acknowledged and feted by the
Philadelphia Welfare Rights Organization for his innovative efforts to help transition
welfare recipients into meaningful jobs, via well-articulated Agreements of Mutual Responsibility, so that they would never have the need to return to the welfare rolls.
Marcus W. Williams has been a frequent commentator, lecturer and guest speaker on radio
talk shows and other media events, in classrooms and seminars, and during church
sponsored and community service events. He presently practices law in a successful, solo, private law firm and serves
as the Vice President/President Elect of the Robeson County Bar Association.
Marcus similarly serves the community
as a member of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Robeson County Library.
For additional information, view his resume here.
