HUNTINGTON – For Huntington attorney Marc E. Williams, serving on the boards of various professional groups is just another part of his job.
Over the past year, Williams served as the president of the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence, an educational organization for the training of appellate court judges. He's also served on the board of DRI (the Voice of the Defense Board), and as president of Lawyers for Civil Justice (in 2013-2014).
"Richard Boyette started the NFJE in 2004," Williams told The West Virginia Record.
"Essentially, we identified a niche in training where there was something missing, he said. "We felt that there was a need for training and commitment to addressing issues that arise in civil litigation, in a fair and balanced way. It's an opportunity for state appellate, intermediate and supreme court judges to deal with the various issues that judges come into contact with every day."
Part of his duties as the President of the NFJE includes overseeing the annual Judicial Symposium, which serves multiple functions, Williams said. Not only is the annual symposium an educational event, but it also offers judges the opportunity to network and to talk to others from across the country, he said. There is no charge for judges to attend; the NFJE pays for the whole conference.
"These judges love coming to talk about how courts function," Williams said. "We didn’t anticipate that there were so few opportunities for judges to come together and talk."
The recent symposium highlighted just how eager judges are to network and get to know others in their profession. Williams told the West Virginia Record that typically there are about 125-150 attendees at the annual NFJE conference, and there's always a waiting list. With the announcement that there will be no waiting list in the coming year, attendees broke into applause. Judges from 38 different states attended this year's conference.
"This year, there were almost 200 - 191 is the largest attendance we've ever had, by far. We almost doubled the size, and that tells us the outreach is working," Williams said. "This tells us there is a need for this education, and that judges want to be able to learn about these topics and interact with others."
Another project that Williams is particularly proud of is his work with Lawyers for Civil Justice, or LCJ. This organization advocates for civil lawsuit reforms, like rules for class action lawsuits. Williams was president of the LCJ in 2013-2014, and notes that this organization is comprised of three defense bar organizations: the DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar, the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and the International Association of Defense Counsel.
During his time as president of the LCJ, in 2014, the Supreme Court ruled on changes in civil procedure, and Williams called these changes very significant. "
The major thing was how electronically-stored evidence is dealt with. You're dealing with preserving evidence and what to do if something is lost. The LCJ was the primary driver of those changes," Williams said. As part of the group's advocating for those changes, Williams testified before the Federal Rules Committee in Washington, D.C.
"Both organizations have found their niche," Williams said. "[Growing up] I never would have guessed that I would have been involved with one national organization, much less three."
