C J Williams

Judge C.J. Williams serves as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Iowa. Prior to his appointment in 2016, Judge Williams served for 19 years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, where he handled complex criminal and civil cases, and tried more than 50 felony cases to jury verdict. From 2008 through 2016, Judge Williams served as the senior litigation counsel, where he was responsible for all training and supervising all Assistant United States Attorneys in the Northern District of Iowa. From 2010 through 2011, Judge Williams served a one-year detail to the Capital Case Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, where he tried death penalty cases across the country. Prior to joining the United States Attorney’s Office in 1997, Judge Williams practiced privately for five years in Kansas City, Missouri. Before entering private practice, Judge Williams spent three years handling criminal cases on behalf of the Department of Justice, including a one-year detail to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Williams served as a law clerk to the late Chief Judge Donald E. O’Brien of the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa. Judge Williams earned his B.B.A., with high distinction, from the University of Iowa, his J.D., with high distinction, from the University of Iowa College of Law, and his L.L.M., with an emphasis in criminal law, from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.