Samuel Williston (September 24, 1861 – February 18, 1963) was an American lawyer and law professor who authored an influential treatise on contracts.

Williston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to a family prosperous from the mercantile trade but whose fortunes declined during his youth, which he recalled, "served as a spur to endeavor.

"[1] He was graduated from Harvard College in 1882 and worked for three years as a survey assistant for a railroad and teaching at a boarding school.

Early in Williston's career, from 1888 to 1889 he worked as the private secretary to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray.

"[8] Amongst his most important contributions at this time were the drafting of four laws aimed at providing national commerce with a legally uniform architecture.

On December 10 and 11, 1913, Williston unsuccessfully argued for the defense in the case of Boston & Maine Railroad v. Hooker[9] before the U.S. Supreme Court.

He became a consultant for the Boston law firm Hale & Dorr, during which time he was involved in cases such as Kneeland v. American Loan Trust Company[10] and Chase National Bank v.

"[15] In a 1963 Harvard Law Review essay, Justice Felix Frankfurter lauded Williston as being the "greatest artist in teaching.