Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams chosen as next federal magistrate

Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams was selected Friday to replace U.S. Magistrate Leonard T. Strand, who has been nominated as the next federal district judge for the Northern District of Iowa.

Williams will take the bench in Sioux City when Strand is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. No vote is currently scheduled for Strand.  

A merit selection panel, comprised of lawyers and community members from Sioux City and Cedar Rapids, considered the character, judgment, legal ability and temperament of each candidate. The applicants also went through an interview process before the names of five finalists were forwarded to the district judges who selected Williams, according to a news release.

U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade said Tuesday the panel concluded what the judges have learned after watching Williams in the courtroom over the years.

'CJ Williams will be an outstanding judge, bringing his talent as a seasoned trial lawyer, teacher and author, his intellect and his commitment to equal justice under the law to his new position,” Reade said. 'He is a tireless worker who treats everyone in the courthouse with consideration and respect.”

Williams said he was "deeply appreciative of the honor and will do my best to be worthy of the trust the judges have shown in me." 

Williams, 52, graduated from the College of Business Administration at the University of Iowa and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1988. Following graduation, Williams served as a law clerk for the late U.S. District Judge Donald E. O'Brien.

In 1990, Williams joined the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., as a trial attorney and worked as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia on a one-year detail. Williams then joined Lathrop & Gage, L.C. in Kansas City, Mo, specializing in civil and criminal trial work.

In 1997, Williams earned an L.L.M., Masters of Laws from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, then joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Iowa. During 2010 and 2011, Williams was with the Department of Justice Capital Case Section, where he assisted attorneys in other judicial districts with capital cases and authored a manual regarding mental health issues in capital cases.

He currently serves as Senior Litigation Counsel with the U.S. Attorney's Office and carries a significant criminal case load, as well as serving as the legal training officer for attorneys and other law enforcement officers and assisting other attorneys with complex or difficult criminal or civil litigation.

Williams has received numerous awards for his work from the Department of Justice and law enforcement. In 2014, he was awarded the Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service and Lifetime Achievement. He was voted into membership in the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers in 2013. Williams also has been an adjunct professor at UI College of Law and written numerous law review articles is co-authoring a book titled 'Federal Criminal Practice.”