| Biography | Charles E. Williams, III specializes in construction, real property, government relations, and commercial litigation. Prior to joining Peckar & Abramson, Mr. Williams served as Vice-President and General Counsel of the New York City School Construction Authority from its inception in 1989, until his departure in September 1993. He also has served as counsel to the Borough President of Manhattan, General Counsel to the New York Department of State, and Acting Secretary of the State of New York from October 1982 to December 1982. Mr. Williams, further, has served as Assistant Counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Mr. Williams has tried numerous cases in the New York State Supreme Court for New York County. Most notably, he was successful in obtaining a verdict of $1.4 million in a professional liability case in which he represented a contractor/developer against an architect. Additionally, Mr. Williams has frequently represented clients in actions in the federal courts in both New York and New Jersey. Such actions have included claims for equitable relief by contractors defaulted by governmental agencies, the successful defense of a Miller Act claim by a subcontractor, exceeding $1 million, as well as the successful defense of an aircraft manufacturer against a UCC warranty claim seeking to recover $450,000. Mr. Williams has also successfully represented a construction manager in an arbitration brought by an owner in which the owner sought more than $3 million in damages against the construction manager for breach of contract. The construction manager counterclaimed for $1 million, its unpaid contract balance. The three member panel of arbitrators rejected the owner's claim in its entirety denying the owner any recovery while awarding the construction manager damages, costs and interest that totaled more than $1.1 million. Mr. Williams is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, as well as the courts of the State of New York. Mr. Williams is a member of the Construction Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American Bar Association. Mr. Williams is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and Columbia University School of Law. |