From 1982 – 1984 she was an associate attorney with Fowler, White, Burnett, Hurley, Banick & Strickroot[1] where she handled many aspects of insurance defense matters including legal research and writing, filing and arguing pretrial motions, and taking depositions.

In 1984, Williams was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida[1] where she prosecuted more than 50 defendants in over 20 jury trials, including two litigations involving the first Colombian defendants extradited to the United States on money laundering charges and one involving the Ochoa drug cartel.

Williams became an associate attorney for the firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius from 1988–1990 and focused on white collar criminal defense.

[1] Williams acted as lead attorney or co-counsel in approximately ten trials in defense of clients charged with crimes ranging from firearms violations to bank fraud.

[2] In April 2020, Williams granted prisoner plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction ordering the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department to enforce social distancing, provide disinfectant, and offer testing in response to COVID-19 outbreak.