Attorney Odis Williams on Pro Bono Work: I Had to Help

December 13th, 2010. By BrendaC

LawyersandSettlements.com has a new column that looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we talk with Attorney Odis Williams of The Law Offices of Odis Williams PC…

Attorney Odis Williams: “The cases I take on are the really ugly, nasty ones, where people find themselves in a very bad position.”

Attorney Odis Williams says he still has student loans to pay off—and he has a fiancé. “Yes, those are both expensive!,” says Williams as he tries to grab lunch during another busy day. Although most of his practice is devoted to civil litigation and small business corporate law, he finds the harrowing stories of some people, especially women, so compelling that he makes time to do pro bono work for them.

“Right now I am trying to secure support payments on behalf of a woman who was abandoned by her husband,” says Williams. “She has had six surgeries and she’s been fighting for her life after a kidney transplant—while her husband of 20 years lives comfortably with a younger woman.”

“She’s a very sick woman who has put up with a series of infidelities. She broke down and cried as she told me the story,” says Williams. “I had to help.”

As young lawyer, Williams says, it wasn’t long before he realized how many people there are who have no resources and are struggling to handle legal problems. “I realized how fortunate I was,” says Williams. “We didn’t have much money when I was growing up, but my parents gave us support, stability and love. We all went to college and I know I am lucky, even blessed.”

“So as my practice grew and I could sustain an office, a home and everything else, I just felt an obligation to step up when I can,” says Williams. “The cases I take on are the really ugly, nasty ones, where people find themselves in a very bad position.”

Williams is also working on a complex child custody case on behalf a young woman whose husband was falsely accused of molestation. “The child’s biological father seized the opportunity to leverage the accusation and the woman has not been able to see her child for months,” says Williams. “The husband was exonerated, there are no problems in the home and the situation is completely unfair.”

The woman is a stay-at-home mom with little education and few skills. “She didn’t have a driver’s license or even know how to drive,” says Williams. So he helped her find a job, get a new apartment and reorganize her life to make a better impression on the courts. “We wanted to show she was a fit mother,” says Williams. “You end up being a psychologist and a counsellor and everything else when you take these cases.”

Williams could spend all of his time doing pro bono, but of course, that isn’t possible. “I have to consider what else I have going on—how much time I have to give to pro bono work and I have to consider the obligations I have to my paying clients,” he says. “I don’t want to let anybody down.”

“I have another lawyer who works with me and a paralegal and it is a busy office,” says Williams.

Williams is currently litigating against a number of banks on behalf of homeowners in foreclosure disputes.

Odis Williams is a graduate of the Georgia State College of Law. He also holds an MA in public administration from the University of South Carolina. The Law Offices of Odis Williams, located in Decatur, Georgia, handles business law and civil litigation.

Tags: Lawyer, Lawyers Giving Back, Odis Williams, Pro Bono

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