09/15/2026
Judge Zuberi Williams Quoted in The Baltimore Sun on Judicial Education and Domestic Violence
When the stakes are high, preparation matters. So does the person making the decision.
Judge Zuberi B. Williams, Chair of Bayard’s Business ADR Group, was recently quoted in The Baltimore Sun in its article, “Domestic Violence Deaths Rising Again in Maryland After 2023 Decline,” discussing judicial education and the important role judges play in domestic violence cases.
During his years on the bench, Judge Williams developed national expertise in civil protective orders and criminal domestic violence cases. As an instructor with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, he traveled around the country teaching judges and magistrates not only about the law, but also about how to manage courtrooms, respond to highly volatile situations, and use the tools available to courts to help interrupt recurring cycles of violence.
In discussing that work with The Sun, Williams described the training as approaching these cases from a place of “disrupting this repeated cycle of domestic violence, and using the judge’s tools to do so.”
As he told The Sun: “Judges — while always being consistent with the law — have to lead in these moments.”
The work was legal, but it was also deeply human. It required listening carefully, understanding what was driving the conflict, recognizing risk, asking difficult questions, and making decisions when the stakes could not have been higher.
Those lessons continue to inform Williams’s work today as Chair of Bayard’s Business ADR Group. The disputes are different, but some of the disciplines endure: understand the people as well as the positions, identify what is truly driving the conflict, and help parties find a practical path forward.
Williams brings that perspective to Bayard’s Business ADR practice, where he serves as a neutral in complex business disputes and helps parties move from entrenched positions toward resolution.
Please click here to read the full article.
During his years on the bench, Judge Williams developed national expertise in civil protective orders and criminal domestic violence cases. As an instructor with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, he traveled around the country teaching judges and magistrates not only about the law, but also about how to manage courtrooms, respond to highly volatile situations, and use the tools available to courts to help interrupt recurring cycles of violence.
In discussing that work with The Sun, Williams described the training as approaching these cases from a place of “disrupting this repeated cycle of domestic violence, and using the judge’s tools to do so.”
As he told The Sun: “Judges — while always being consistent with the law — have to lead in these moments.”
The work was legal, but it was also deeply human. It required listening carefully, understanding what was driving the conflict, recognizing risk, asking difficult questions, and making decisions when the stakes could not have been higher.
Those lessons continue to inform Williams’s work today as Chair of Bayard’s Business ADR Group. The disputes are different, but some of the disciplines endure: understand the people as well as the positions, identify what is truly driving the conflict, and help parties find a practical path forward.
Williams brings that perspective to Bayard’s Business ADR practice, where he serves as a neutral in complex business disputes and helps parties move from entrenched positions toward resolution.
Please click here to read the full article.