J. Craig Williams ('79)
Attorney and lecturer
J. Craig Williams never forgot the Madison vice president who taught him the importance of "paying it forward." Dr. Ray Sonner, for whom Sonner Hall is named, made the phone call that helped Williams land his first job. Today, The Williams Law Firm in California receives countless resumes from hopeful lawyers who have no chance of getting a job with the practice that focuses on complex business litigation and hires no one with less than 10 years of experience. Yet, every "rejection" letter contains an offer from Williams to buy the applicant lunch and discuss his or her future. Williams says probably less than 10 percent of recipients read beyond the first sentence, but those who do send him wonderful letters about the jobs they eventually get. Given Williams tight schedule, the lunches represent especially valuable time. When he's not running his firm, he's lecturing at colleges, serving as co-host of the audiocast "Lawyer to Lawyer," or running his popular blog site, MayitPleasetheCourt.com.
"Madison was directly responsible for influencing me to adopt this pay-it-forward philosophy."
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