Law Office of Stephen Z. Williamson, PLLC

07/29/2026

Every client has a journey of struggle that deserves attention. In True Law Stories, I explain how presenting the struggle to overcome adversity is crucial to defeating the defense’s attempts at mischaracterization and misdirection.

07/28/2026

Every client has a personal story that deserves to be told. In my conversation with True Law Stories, I explain why helping juries understand the human story is often the factor that enables justice to be served.

07/27/2026

The biggest settlements aren't won at the negotiating table—they're earned with thorough trial preparation. I shared my perspective on True Law Stories about how being ready for trial is the best way to obtain a full justice settlement.

07/24/2026

One of the biggest challenges in any personal injury trial is overcoming the negative stereotypes that the defense wants jurors to believe. On True Law Stories, I discuss why credibility matters and how we help juries focus on the facts.

07/06/2026

Last week, as our nation celebrated its 250th anniversary, we had the opportunity to reflect not only on how far America has come, but on the principles that have sustained our democracy for two and a half centuries. Among the most enduring of these principles is a simple but profound promise: that justice belongs to everyone, not just the wealthy and powerful.

That promise is embodied in the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees the right to a trial by jury in civil cases. Our founders understood that an independent civil justice system was essential to preserving liberty. They recognized that ordinary citizens—not governments, not corporations, not the powerful alone—must have the ability to hold others accountable before a jury of their peers.

Today, that promise faces extraordinary challenges. Across the country as well as here in New York, corporate and special interests continue their efforts to limit access to the courts, weaken accountability, and erode the constitutional rights that have protected generations of Americans. These are not simply policy debates. They are debates over whether every American will continue to have equal access to justice.

Together, we must meet this moment by defending the Seventh Amendment, preserving access to justice, and ensuring that our courts remain a place where every person stands equal before the law.

And so, in celebrating the 250 years of our nation, let us also recommit ourselves to protecting the constitutional freedoms that have defined it from the beginning and will shape its future.

06/26/2026

𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬’ 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

“This Supreme Court Decision Tramples Every State's Right to Protect Its Own Citizens"

Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Monsanto v. Durnell, placed corporate profits over the safety of ordinary Americans. It immunizes manufacturers of dangerous pesticide products from accountability under state failure-to-warn laws, denying the rights of Americans to seek justice.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞.

𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬.


In her dissent, joined by Justice Gorsuch, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stated that the majority failed to understand FIFRA, the underlying federal statute, and that adding a cancer warning would not conflict with the law:


“𝐔𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐥.”


Justice Jackson explained:

"𝑰𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐'𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑫𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒍'𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒆-𝒕𝒐-𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝑭𝑰𝑭𝑹𝑨'𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝑰𝑭𝑹𝑨'𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝑫𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅."


This decision will immunize manufacturers of more than 57,000 pesticide products commonly found in homes, schools, and workplaces from accountability under every state’s law.

06/19/2026

Being a better Father and being a better trial lawyer are two sides of the same coin.

05/26/2026