Stephen Fain Williams (September 23, 1936 – August 7, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1986 until his death from COVID-19 in 2020.
Stephen Fain Williams
District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals
Born 1936 in New York, NY
Died 2020 in Washington, DC
FJC ID: 2603
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 24/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 533/year
District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals · 1986–2020District of Columbia District Court · 1986–2001
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
Faculty · 1969–1986- ↳associate professor of law · 1969–1976
- ↳professor of law · 1976–1986
- Southern Methodist University School of LawVisiting professor of energy law · 1983–1984
Visiting professor and fellow in law and economics · 1979–1980
Visiting professor · 1975–1976
Assistant U.S. attorney · 1966–1969- Private practice, New York City1962–1966
U.S. Army Reserve private E21961–1962
Appointments
1986–2020 · Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican)Term ended: Death
1986–2001
Education
J.D. · 1961- Yale UniversityB.A. · 1958