New Orleans attorney, David H. Williams, has joined Southeast Louisiana Legal Services as its Litigation Director.

Mr. Williams is a 1986 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and a summa cum laude graduate of Duke University. He has more than 20 years federal and state court litigation experience in poverty law matters.

Mr. Williams' law practice has included 11 years as a public benefits attorney with the New Orleans Legal Assistance (NOLAC). After NOLAC, Mr. Williams entered private practice where he focused on Medicaid, fair housing, constitutional law and Section 1983 civil rights litigation. He is one of America's leading experts on Medicaid law.

During his 11 years at NOLAC, Mr. Williams achieved multimillion dollar victories for low income people in the areas of Medicaid, food stamp, unemployment compensation and welfare law. He was the winning NOLAC attorney in two of the Louisiana Supreme Court's only constitutional rulings on unemployment compensation laws in the last two decades.

In 1994, Mr. Williams received the nationally prestigious Reginald Heber Smith Award from the National Legal Aid & Defender Association for his advocacy work at NOLAC. This award is one the highest that a legal aid attorney attorney can receive.  He also received the Louisiana State Bar Association's Career Public Interest Award in 1994.

Some of Mr. Williams' notable federal cases include:

Blanchard v. Forrest, 71 F.3d 1163 (5th Cir.) cert denied 518 U.S. 1013 (1996)--required state to promptly decide Medicaid applications.

Flowers v. Hood, No. 98-936 (M.D. La.)--reinstated 2,434 children who improperly cut from Medicaid.

S.D. v. Hood, 391 F.3d 581 (5th Cir. 2004)--affirmed decision that Medicaid must cover disposable incontinence supplies.  Opposing counsel, the national law firm of Covington & Burling, opposed this relief for Medicaid clients.

Groome Resources, L.L.C. v. Parish of Jefferson, 234 F.3d 192 (5th Cir. 2000)--successfully defended Fair Housing Act law prohibiting handicap discrimination from constitutional attack by Jefferson Parish, which was represented by Phelps & Dunbar.