Tiffany M. Williams is the Associate Director of Advocacy, Empowerment, and Faith, where she teaches upper level required and elective courses and leads initiatives focused on spiritual development, professional advocacy and women’s empowerment. As a former New Jersey Administrative Law Judge, Judge Williams brings her judicial experience into the classroom and the law school community. She teaches courses in Ethical Lawyering and Law & the Bible, serves as the Faculty Advisor for the Moot Court Board and the Women’s Legal Association and is the founder of Pepperdine’s Esther Project Biblical Leadership Study. Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor of Legal Research and Writing and taught courses in Evidence. At a prior law school, she also taught Administrative Law and served as the Director of Externship Programs and the Mock Trial Program. She has taught a variety of classes in law, policy, leadership and public administration in masters and undergraduate programs at universities in Massachusetts and New Jersey over the course of the past 20 years. Her scholarly focus includes examining the intersectionality of racial justice, ethics, and religion as well as furthering criminal justice reform for women and girls. Judge Williams is also a frequent international lecturer and trainer, having conducted legal writing, trial advocacy, and judicial judgment drafting trainings in Saudi Arabia and throughout the African continent.
Prior to her judicial service, Judge Williams served as a senior advisor to several leaders in state government over the course of her career, including as Deputy Chief Counsel to the New Jersey Governor, Chief Counsel to the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, New Jersey Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (overseeing the state’s election system), and as agency counsel at the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. She is also a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and worked at the law firms of Riker Danzig (NJ) and Mintz Levin (Boston) and started her career as a law clerk to Judge Frederick L. Brown in the Massachusetts Appeals Court. During law school, Judge Williams had the unique opportunity to serve as an intern at the White House for the Office of Legal Counsel. Prior to law school, she served as the Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. Judge Williams is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States.
As an active leader in the profession, Judge Williams currently serves as Secretary of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association (ABA) and as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Previously she served as the ABA Deputy Representative to the United Nations, as an Associate Editor to the Litigation News magazine, a member of the Section of Litigation Council and as Section of Litigation Managing Director. She has also served in the roles of Vice President and Chair of the Judicial Council of the Garden State Bar Association. Judge Williams is also a member of the National Association of Women Judges.
In addition to her legal career, Judge Williams is a pastor and an advocate for the global advancement of women and girls as Founder & CEO of the Esther Project, a non-profit women’s empowerment movement encouraging women to discover their life purpose and become intentional leaders. Judge Williams has been recognized for her global work with the Esther Project by a United States Senator, the New Jersey Legislature, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (of which she is a member) and numerous organizations and publications.
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