James M. Williams, a partner with the law firm of Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams, has been named one of the National Bar Association and IMPACT's inaugural Nation's Best Advocates: 40 Lawyers Under 40! The lawyers named to this list comprise attorneys within the African American community who have achieved a high level of prominence and distinction. They were selected on the basis of their achievement, innovation, vision, leadership and legal community involvement.
Williams will be honored at the N.B.A. 40 Lawyers Under 40 Awards Gala on Aug. 8, 2010 in New Orleans. The National Bar Association was founded in 1925 and is the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly African American attorneys and judges. IMPACT is a nonprofit group of young professionals of color formed in 2006.
Williams earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and a Juris Doctor degree from Washington & Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Va. While at W&L, Mr. Williams was Editor in Chief of the Journal for Civil Rights and Social Justice and was one of only six students selected as a Burk's Scholar. His present concentrations are in the fields of catastrophic personal injury and business litigation.

Other awards and recognitions Williams has earned include:
2010 Louisiana SuperLawyer
2010 "Top 100 Trial Lawyers" American Trial Lawyers Association
2009-2010 Judge Pro Tempore, Orleans Parish Civil District Court
2008, 2009 New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law Honoree
2009 Inductee, CityBusiness Leadership in Law Hall of Fame
2006, 2007 U.S. Congressional Black Caucus Emerging Leaders Honoree
2006 Million Dollar Advocates Forum
He is past president, Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, Inc. and a board member of the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans Bar Association and the Good Shepherd Nativity Mission School.