Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office-New Deputy City Attorney

City Attorney Tearman Spencer is pleased to announce the hiring of Attorney Jennifer Williams as a Deputy City Attorney to lead the office’s Litigation Section.  Ms. Williams was sworn in by Deputy City Clerk Diana Zelazny in a ceremony on December 27, 2022, attended by Ms. Williams’ husband and her two children. 

Ms. Williams joins the office with over 15 years of litigation experience, including work as an Assistant District Attorney for Milwaukee County, Deputy City Attorney for the City of Racine, and private practice. She has presented numerous training seminars for attorneys and law enforcement personnel and has served as an adjunct professor of criminology at Marquette University.

As the Deputy City Attorney for the Litigation Section, Ms. Williams will oversee all aspects of the work of the Section which includes Section 1983 Litigation, state tort litigation, real estate valuation litigation, property tax foreclosure litigation, defense of disciplinary decisions by the Fire and Police Commission, bankruptcy, licensing and other litigation. The Litigation Section has nine Assistant City Attorneys when fully staffed.

Ms. Williams also plans on serving as lead counsel on cases when needed.

City Attorney Spencer noted “We have very pleased to have an attorney with Jennifer’s knowledge and experience join our team and look forward to working with her as we continue to strive to provide the City of Milwaukee with high quality and cost-effective legal representation in claims and lawsuits filed against the City and its employees.”  

Ms. Williams said that “I am very happy to be joining City Attorney Spencer and the rest of his management team. This is a position I really wanted and I am excited about the opportunities ahead to represent the City of Milwaukee litigation and to work with the Assistant City Attorneys and support staff in the Litigation Section.”

Ms. Williams in a 2007 graduate of Marquette Law School and a 2002 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she double-majored in International Relations and French.  Ms. Williams is also fluent in Spanish. 

BIO

Jennifer Williams, a Racine native, graduated from Marquette Law School in 2007.  Upon graduation, she spent a year in East Africa working for the Legal Advisor to the President of Eritrea, Yale Law Professor Lea Brilmayer, on multi-billion dollar public international arbitration related to a border war with Ethiopia.  Ms. Williams returned to Milwaukee, and spent almost 10 years in public service with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office exclusively prosecuting criminal cases involving child abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking.  During the pandemic, she spent a year with the City of Racine as Deputy City Attorney, and most recently in private practice representing school and local government clients in litigation.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.