Michael A. Williams
Principal Attorney
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Direct: (816) 945-7175
E-mail: mwilliams@williamsdirks.com
Michael is a founding partner of Williams Dirks Dameron LLC. He specializes in complex litigation on behalf of business and consumers across the country.
After graduating from the University of Missouri with his B.A. in 1995 and his J.D. in 1998, Michael joined Lathrop & Gage LLC, defending large and medium-sized corporations across the United States in discrimination and retaliation claims. In 2002, he became one of the firm’s youngest lawyers in history to serve as the first chair at a federal trial. Lathrop & Gage elevated Michael to the firm partnership, effective January 2006.
In 2010, Michael established Williams Law LLC. Since founding Williams Law LLC, the firm has grown to six attorneys and is now Williams Dirks Dameron LLC.
In addition to his legal work, Michael is a member of the Missouri Bar, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, American Association for Justice, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, and National Employment Lawyers Association. In 2004, he became the first African American to serve on the Kansas Bar Association Board of Governors. He also previously served on the Board of Governors for the Young Lawyers Section of the Missouri Bar.
Michael has twice returned to the University of Missouri School of Law as an adjunct professor and has received Distinguished Recent Alumni Awards both from the School of Law and the College of Arts and Sciences. In 2014, he received the Alumni Award from the University of Missouri.
Michael served as a mentor and board member for Higher M-PACT, a non-profit group working with at-risk inner-city youth. He also worked closely with Hope House, the United Way Young Leaders Society, and numerous other charitable organizations. The Missouri Bar awarded him the Tom Cochran Community Service Award in 2014.
EDUCATION
University of Missouri Columbia School of Law, J.D., 1998
University of Missouri Columbia, B.A., 1995
BAR ADMISSIONS
Missouri
Kansas
HONORS & AWARDS
Tom Cochran Community Service Award, Missouri Bar, 2014
Super Lawyers Top 50-Kansas City, 2014-Present
Super Lawyers Top 100, 2014-Present
Super Lawyers, 2012-Present
Super Lawyers “Rising Star”, 2008
40 Under 40, Ingram’s Magazine 2009
Congenial Counselor Award, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association 2009
University of Missouri Alumni Association Alumni Award, 2014
University of Missouri School of Law Distinguished Recent Alumni Award, 2008
University of Missouri College of Arts and Science Distinguished Recent Alumni Award, 2006
Up and Coming Lawyer, Missouri Lawyers Weekly, 2006
Young Lawyer of the Year, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, 2006
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS & MEMBERSHIPS
Selected by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate to serve on University of Missouri Board of Curators, 2019-Present (currently Chair)
Elected to Sixteenth Circuit Judicial Selection Commission, 2016-2019
Chair of the Disciplinary Committee for Region IV
Chair of the Magistrate Selection Panel (District of Kansas)
Member of the Missouri Supreme Court Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (Board of Directors)
United Way Young Leaders Society, 2004-Present
Hope House Board of Directors, 2012-2018
Higher M-Pact Board of Directors and Advisory Board, 2005-2018
University of Missouri Alumni Association, Life Member
Jefferson Board of Directors, 2008-2014
Law School Foundation Board of Directors, 2008-2018
University of Missouri Alumni Association, Kansas City Chapter Scholarship Committee and
Board Member, 2005-2018
Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys
The Missouri Bar Young Lawyers Section, Board of Directors, 2001-2009
The Missouri Bar Leadership Fellow, 2000-2001
Kansas Bar Association Board of Governors, 2004-2007
Kansas Bar Association, Inn of Court, 2003-2007
Centurion—Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, 2003-2005
Centurion—Alumni Association, 2005-Present
The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Young Lawyers Board of Directors, 1999-2003
The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Chair for Community Service, 2002-2003
The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Vice-Chair for Community Service, 1999-2002
Lawyers Association of Kansas City, Board of Governors, 1999-2001
American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, Litigation Section, Minority Lawyer
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