JUDGE DEREK J. WILLIAMS

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Judge Derek J. Williams was appointed to the Third District Court in July 2025 by Governor Spencer J. Cox. He currently serves in Salt Lake County. Judge Williams graduated with two associates degrees in criminal justice and French from Rick's College in 1994, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in political science with a minor in middle east area studies in 1997. Judge Williams obtained his Juris Doctor from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah in 2003 where he was the Executive Editor of the Journal of Land, Resources, and Environmental Law. Following law school, Judge Williams completed a clerkship on the Utah Court of Appeals with the Honorable Pamela T. Greenwood from January 2004 to December 2004. Judge Williams was an associate and shareholder at the law firm Snow Christensen & Martineau from 2003 to 2020. From 2020 until his appointment to the bench, he was a partner at the Millcreek law firm of Campbell Williams Ference Nelson & Hall. Judge Williams' 20+ year law practice focused primarily on the defense of Utah hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare providers. He also had a very meaningful practice in adoption law, as a result of the adoption of his  own two children near the time he became a lawyer. In 2015, Judge Williams was invited to become a fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys. He is also the past president of the Utah Adoption Council. At the time of his appointment, Judge Williams was serving as one of the screening panel chairs for the Utah Supreme Court - Ethics and Discipline Committee.    11/25