Movement Lawyering

Carlton Williams is a movement lawyer, organizer, and scholar-activist dedicated to creating the conditions where people are free from all systems of oppression. Mr. Williams has practiced criminal and civil rights law in Massachusetts for over 12 years. He began his legal career as a criminal defense attorney with the Roxbury Defenders and later served as a racial justice attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts. Mr. Williams is an activist, organizer, and public advocate on issues of war, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, and Black and Palestinian liberation. He is a member of the National Lawyers Guild and has served as the chairperson of its Massachusetts Board of Directors. Mr. Williams was part of the legal defense for the Occupy Boston movement, providing legal, bail, and court support and training to the thousands of participant-organizers. In 2015, he served on the working group that organized the inaugural Law for Black Lives convening and was a featured speaker in its RadTalks event. Mr. Williams was a Givelber Distinguished Lecturer on Public Interest Law at Northeastern University School of Law, where he taught on social justice movements and the law. More recently he served as the executive director of the Water Protector Legal Collective, defending and supporting Indigenous people standing up for the land, water, and air, and fighting for sovereignty. Mr. Williams is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and the University of Wisconsin Law School. He tweets at @carltonwilliams.