COMMISSIONER DERRICK L. WILLIAMS JOINS AGENCY

The most recent member of the seven-member Workers’ Compensation Commission is one of the youngest-ever to be appointed to the panel and does not look a day over his 29 years.  “I’m an old 29,” jokes Commissioner Derrick L. Williams. “I am married, have a three months-old baby, and have been practicing law for five years.”

Prior to his confirmation by the South Carolina Senate in mid-March, Commissioner Williams was an associate in the Columbia offices of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.  He practiced in the areas of business litigation, franchise and distribution litigation, and labor and employment. His prior litigation background includes defense litigation, workers’ compensation, and successfully representing clients in mediations and arbitrations.
 
Commissioner Williams earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2002, where he was a member of the South Carolina Environmental Law Journal.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in the Honors Program at the College of Charleston in 1999.

After a month-long training period at the Commission, where he will sit in on hearings, Commissioner Williams will begin hearing cases in May in the Charleston district.  He is no stranger to the agency, having argued 50-60 cases before the Commission while an associate at Collins & Lacy in Columbia.  In fact, he recalls having appeared before every Commissioner now on the panel, with the exception of Commissioner Andrea Pope Roche.  “I don’t remember exactly how often I was successful but I know I lost more cases than I won,” he says.

Commissioner Williams was born in Florence and the family moved later to Columbia, where he graduated from Dreher.  Both his parents are pastors.  He is married to Alana Odom Williams, an associate at Nelson Mullins in Columbia.