Ms Dawn Williams

About Ms Dawn Williams

<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in">Dawn Williams received her J.D. from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in 2000 and immediately went to work for the Office of the Attorney General in its Protective Services Section representing the Department of Economic Security (now the Department of Child Safety) in child welfare matters. In 2005, Dawn transitioned to a position in the Appeals Unit, handling appeals from cases arising in juvenile court. Since 2010, Dawn has been the unit chief counsel for appeals, managing a statewide team of attorneys who handle not only DCS child welfare appeals, but also appeals relating to child support enforcement and administrative decisions regarding DES services (such as DDD benefits, unemployment insurance claims, and substantiations on the central registries for child/vulnerable adult abuse).</p> <p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in">In addition, for the past four years, Dawn has represented the Arizona Attorney General at various meetings of the Conference of Western Attorneys General, a nonprofit organization created to facilitate collaboration by the Attorneys General impacted by issues of particular importance in Western states (such as water law, Indian law, federal-state relations, etc.). Dawn has provided training to attorneys, judges, CASAs, social workers, and others on a wide variety of topics including the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, appellate practice in juvenile law, trial practice in juvenile law, and myriad topical issues that arise as a result of changes to child welfare law. Dawn was one of the first Arizona practitioners to be certified as a Child Welfare Law Specialist by the National Association of Counsel for Children in 2014 and has remained certified since then. Dawn works regularly with the Arizona Supreme Court&rsquo;s Court Improvement Program to provide training to child welfare practitioners and judges on a wide variety of topics.</p> <p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in">In addition to countless appellate pleadings, Dawn has drafted petitions to amend various Rules of Procedure for the Juvenile Court, assisted with amendments to the Arizona State Bar&rsquo;s Appellate Handbook, authors a chapter on ICWA for the Conference of Western Attorneys Generals&rsquo; Indian Law Deskbook, co-authored an Arizona-specific Guide to ICWA (<a href="http://www.AZICWA.com">www.AZICWA.com</a>), and co-authored amicus briefs on behalf of Arizona and other states in the U.S. Supreme Court cases <em>Greene v. Camreta</em> and <em>Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl</em>.</p> <p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in">Dawn is admitted to practice in Arizona state and district courts, the Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.</p> <p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"> </p>

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Education

• Law School: U of Arizona

Practice Areas

Notable Case Results