04/17/2024
Williams & Roche, LLC. is pleased to announce that Derrick L. Williams has been elected by the South Carolina General Assembly to serve on the Board of Trustees for the College of Charleston, 2nd Congressional District. Derrick’s term will expire on June 30, 2026.
“I am extremely humbled and grateful for this opportunity to serve my alma mater,” said Derrick Williams. “I owe a lot to CofC for the education I obtained there, and I am excited to start the work and will do my best to help the College reach its potential. I appreciate the confidence the General Assembly has placed in me by electing me to this important role.”
His law partner, Andrea C. Roche, notes the following: “Derrick will be an excellent addition to the Board of Trustees. I know Derrick considers it an honor to serve, and he has the integrity, wisdom, and industriousness to be a benefit both to the Board and to the College of Charleston as a whole.”
Former Commissioner Derrick L. Williams is one of the youngest-ever to be appointed to the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission. He was appointed in March 2007, and he served until January 31, 2013, when he decided to return to private practice. He is responsible for spear-heading the effort to make mediation of workers’ compensation available for complex injury by accident cases in South Carolina.
Prior to joining the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission, he was an associate at a national law firm based in South Carolina. He practiced in the areas of business litigation, franchise and distribution litigation, and labor and employment.
As a founding partner with Williams & Roche, Derrick’s practice is devoted to representing injured workers and serving as a mediator for all civil litigation matters. Derrick is a member of the National Academy Distinguished Neutrals.
Derrick earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2002, where he was a member of the South Carolina Environmental Law Journal. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in the Honors Program at the College of Charleston in 1999. He ran Cross Country and Track for the College of Charleston, and he was the team captain of both his senior season.
Born in Florence, South Carolina, he and his family moved later to Columbia, South Carolina, where he graduated from Dreher High School. He is the Past President of the Riverbanks Zoo Society Board. He is the first black President of the College of Charleston Alumni Association (now the Immediate Past President) and also serves on the College of Charleston Honors College Advisory Board and the College of Charleston English Department Alumni Advisory Board. He has previously been a member in the American Bar Association, where he was involved in the T.I.P.S. Workers’ Compensation Section. He is a member of the John Belton O’Neall American Inn of Court. Derrick also previously served on the South Carolina Board of Law Examiners. He serves on the Executive Committee for the Richland County Bar Association, where he is President-Elect. He also serves on the Central Carolina Community Foundation Board, where he is the Secretary/Treasurer. He was named in the 2024 Edition of the Best Lawyers rankings as “Lawyer of the Year" for his work in Claimants Workers' Compensation Law.