John B. Williams, III

John B. Williams, III provides enforcement and litigation counsel to financial services companies and individuals navigating internal investigations, government investigations, and complex civil litigation, with a particular emphasis on consumer finance matters and electronic discovery.

As Counsel in Buckley LLP’s Washington, D.C., office, Mr. Williams has represented clients before the Department of Justice (DOJ), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and other state regulators, including state attorneys general. He is particularly focused on the compliance issues surrounding government-insured mortgages and student lending, and works with his clients to conduct compliance and consumer protection reviews to mitigate risk.

Mr. Williams has extensive experience assisting clients in matters involving complex electronic discovery issues, such as large-scale document collection, developing effective document retention policies, and utilizing cutting-edge technology (including technology-assisted review) to reduce review and production costs.

His notable work includes:

• Defending some of the nation’s largest mortgage originators and servicers against litigation brought under the False Claims Act (FCA)
   
• Representing one of the largest banks in the United States in multiple investigations brought by the DOJ and Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) regarding lender-placed insurance, FCA liability, and down-payment assistance programs
   
• Represented Universal Entertainment Corp., a large Japanese gaming manufacturer, and its subsidiary, Aruze USA, Inc., in FCPA-related litigation brought by Wynn Resorts Ltd., as well as in related parallel matters. The case involved one of the first examples of a private party using allegations of FCPA violations as an affirmative weapon to gain an upper hand in an unrelated contract dispute. After six years of litigation – during which the parties produced millions of documents, argued more than a dozen appeals and scores of motions, and took nearly 100 depositions – Wynn Resorts agreed to pay $2.6 billion to our clients just a month before trial
   
• Assisting a variety of institutions across the breadth of their investigations needs, from internal investigations to large-scale government investigations

Mr. Williams has an active pro bono practice and has represented clients before the U.S. Parole Commission, has handled multiple matters with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, and is a founding member of Greater D.C. Diaper Bank, a local nonprofit where he currently sits as a board member. He also coaches Capitol Hill Little League baseball teams and serves on his local Advisory Neighborhood Commission as a committee chair.

Prior to joining Buckley, Mr. Williams was a litigation associate at Venable LLP, where he represented clients in complex commercial litigation and arbitration. 

Mr. Williams received his J.D. from the American University, Washington College of Law (summa cum laude, Order of the Coif) in 2007. During law school, he served as a clerk in the Office of the Public Defender in Montgomery County, Maryland. Mr. Williams received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University (magna cum laude) in 2004.