J. Carol Williams, Ph. D., Esq., has been practicing law since 1982. She is a member of the Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia Bars and numerous federal bars, including the Supreme Court.  

     J. Carol Williams established her own firm to focus on wills, trusts, estates, planning for disability and retirement, non-profit organizations, and mediation and arbitration.  She is a member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys and the Elder Law Section of the Maryland Bar, the Trust and Estates Section of the Maryland and D.C. Bars and the Real Estate, Trusts and Probate Section of the American Bar Association, and is a frequent speaker on her areas of practice. She also has written on these topics for the various publications, including the Hyattsville Life and Times. 

     Prior to private practice, J. Carol Williams held a number of positions with the United States Government. Among them, she served as Associate General Counsel of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President, where she handled cases before the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and served as legal counsel to U.S. negotiators for investment provisions of U.S. trade agreements. In this capacity, she also participated in international arbitrations under the ICSID and UNCITRAL arbitration rules. She also served in the U.S. Department of Justice as Assistant Section Chief in the Appellate Section of the Environment Division, where she supervised other attorneys and she herself handled civil and criminal appeals under a variety of federal laws.  While at the Department of Justice, Ms. Williams personally handled over 100 federal court appeals and argued cases before all of the federal circuit courts of appeals.

     J. Carol Williams earned her law degree from the University of Richmond, Richmond, VA.  She also has a doctorate and master's degree in philosophy from the University of California, Davis, CA, and a bachelor's degree from Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA.