Career
After graduating from Harvard,Williams spent a few months at Boston law firm Ropes and Gray. After returning to New Zealand,he joined the law firm Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet &Co (now known as Russell McVeagh),where he took on two cases that went to international arbitration,the first such cases in New Zealand. He became a partner at Russell McVeagh in 1969,and at his suggestion,based on his experience in the United Stated,the firm introduced summer clerkships. [3]
In 1971,Williams was one of the founders of the Environmental Defence Society,which evolved to become the Maruia Society and subsequently the Ecologic Foundation. [1] [3] [4]
Williams was a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia Law School in 1979,and was also a part-time lecturer in law at the University of Auckland. [1] His book,Environmental Law in New Zealand,the first legal text on the subject in New Zealand,was published in 1980,and was awarded the Butterworth Prize for best law book of the year. [1] [5]
In 1985,Williams was appointed Queen's Counsel,and in 1990 he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. [1]
Williams served as a judge of the High Court between 1991 and 1994. [1] He subsequently returned to practising as a barrister and international arbitrator,and was involved in more than 150 international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations,frequently as tribunal president. He also took part in several high-profile cases at the Court of Arbitration for Sport,including as president of the tribunal that upheld Floyd Landis being disqualified for doping after winning the 2006 Tour de France. [3]
From the early 2000s,Williams was a judge of the High Court of the Cook Islands,and was Chief Justice of the Cook Islands between 2005 and 2010. [5] [6] He later served as president of the Cook Islands Court of Appeal,and drafted the Cook Islands' Arbitration Act 2009. [5]
Williams was co-author,with Amokura Kawharu,of the leading text on arbitration law in New Zealand,Williams &Kawharu on Arbitration. Now in its second edition,the first edition in 2011 won the Legal Research Foundation's JF Northey Prize for the year's best legal treatise published in New Zealand. [5] [7]
In the 2017 New Year Honours,Williams was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit,for services to international law and international arbitration. [8]
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