Edward Bennett Williams
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Edward Bennett Williams (May 31, 1920 — August 13, 1988) was a legendary Washington, D.C. trial attorney who founded the law firm of Williams & Connolly and owned several professional sports teams. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut and studied law at Georgetown University.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Career in law
He represented many high profile clients, including Frank Sinatra, financier Robert Vesco, Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, spy Igor Melekh, Jimmy Hoffa, organized crime figure Frank Costello, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, Michael Milken, the Washington Post newspaper and the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Williams, who was a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Georgetown University Law Center, successfully defended – among others – Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Jimmy Hoffa, John Connally and, as one his last clients, Michael Milken.
Two of Williams' closest friends were the Washington Post's Art Buchwald and Ben Bradlee. His debating team partner at Holy Cross was Robert Maheu, Howard Hughes's right hand man for many years.
Before establishing Williams & Connolly in 1967 with his friend and student Paul Connolly, he worked at the prominent, D.C.-based law firm of Hogan & Hartson from 1945 to 1949.[1]
[edit] Professional sports
In 1983, his two professional teams, the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Redskins, both won their respective championships. He owned the Orioles from 1980 to 1988. When he bought the Orioles, many feared he would move the team to Washington D.C., and these fears increased with the departure of the Colts. However, Williams never moved the team, and under his ownership, the team signed a new long term lease with Baltimore that would pay for a new stadium, which would become Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He would not live to see the new ball park.
[edit] Real Estate investments
Among Williams' many real estate holdings was the Jefferson Hotel, a 98 room luxury hotel located near the White House and favored by many sport and political figures in the 1980s/1990s.
[edit] Death/Funeral
After an 11-year battle, Williams succumbed to cancer at age 68. His funeral was attended by most of Washington's power elite, including then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. He is buried in St. Gabriel Cemetery in Potomac, Maryland.
[edit] Honors
The Edward Bennett Williams Law Library at Georgetown University Law Center is named in his honor. A residence hall at the College of the Holy Cross is also named in his honor.
[edit] Family
On May 3, 1949, Edward Bennett Williams married Dorothy Adair Guider. Dorothy Adair was the daughter of John (Duke) Guider, Williams' former boss at Hogan & Hartson. Dorothy Adair and Edward Bennett Williams had three children together: Joseph, Ellen, and Bennett. Dorothy Adair died in 1959. In June 1960, Williams married Agnes Anne Neill and had four children: Edward, Dana, Anthony, and Kimberly. Agnes Neill Williams was one of the first women to enroll in Georgetown Law School and the first attorney hired to work for the Williams & Connolly Law Firm. She now resides in Potomac, Maryland and serves on the Board of Advisors of the Georgetown Center for Liturgy..
[edit] References
- Krebs, Albin. 'Edward Bennett Williams, 68, Influential Trial Lawyer, Dies; A Brilliant 'Superlawyer'. New York Times, August 14, 1988
- Thomas, Evan. The Man to See, 1991.
- Williams, Edward Bennett. One Man's Freedom.
[edit] External links
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