Dan Williams
Performance Coach for Lawyers and Law Students | Litigation Consultation, including Trial and Appellate Brief Writing
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS, STORIES, and ESSAYS
THE HIDDEN DHARMABUM, in progress
STORMS AND WHISPERS, in progress
EXECUTING JUSTICE: AN INSIDE ACCOUNT OF THE CASE OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL (with introduction by E.L. Doctorow)
(St. Martin’s Press 2001)
The Ordeal of Mumia Abu-Jamal, in STATES OF CONFINEMENT (St. Martin’s Press 2000)
Leaves Playing Tag, in Fjord’s Review (spring 2018)
The Odysseus Agreement, in Carbon Copy Review (fall 2017) (nominated for Pushcart Prize)
Wrong Trail Down, in Statorec (fall 2017)
Hitchhiking with the Ghost of Jim Morrison, in Statorec (winter 2017)
Revisiting R.D. Laing, in Psychotherapy.net (2019)
Literature and Psychotherapy, in Pychotherapy.net (2018)
If You Kill Yourself, Don’t Make a Mess, in Psychotherapy.net (2017)
How Socrates Trumps Trump (2016)
Entries in THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES (Routledge 2006)
Entries in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Sage Publication 2002)
SELECTED SCHOLASTIC WRITINGS
Averting a Legitimation Crisis and the Paradox of the War on Terror, 17 Mich. St. J. Int’l Law 493 (2009) (lead article)
Who Got Game: Boumediene v. Bush and the Judicial Gamesmanship of Enemy-combatant
The Political Dream of Guantanamo, 6 The International Journal of the Humanities 127-33(2008)
After the Gold Rush-- -Part II: Hamdi, the Jury Trial, and Our Degraded Public Sphere, 113 Penn State L. Rev. 53 (2008)
After the Gold Rush-- -Part I: Hamdi, 9/11, and the Dark Side of the Enlightenment, 112 Penn.State L. Rev. 341 (2007)
The Futile Debate Over the Morality of the Death Penalty: A Critical Commentary on the Steiker and Sunstein-Vermeule Debate, 3 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 625 (2006)
Mitigation and the Capital Defendant Who Wants to Die: A Study in the Rhetoric of Autonomy and the Hidden Discourse of Collective Responsibility, 57 Hastings L. J. 693 (2006)
Law, Chess & Ideals, 23 Univ. S. F. L. Rev. 399 (1989)
Law, Deconstruction and Resistance: The Critical Stances of Derrida and Foucault, 6
Cardozo Arts & Entertainment L. J. 359 (1988)
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BIOGRAPHICAL iNFORMATION
I am an honors graduate from Harvard Law School. I clerked on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and though I didn't go to law school to land in corporate America, I worked in Big Law for a while. I eventually pursued my calling to be a gladiator in the courtroom, usually for righteous causes (civil rights, criminal defense in political cases, death penalty). I was the lead attorney in the case that ended capital punishment in New York. The photo on the right captures a moment in my argument in the NY Court of Appeals on that case. The Court declared capital punishment unconstitutional--one of my biggest courtroom victories. I specialized in criminal law, civil rights, and employment discrimination. Later on I joined the faculty at Northeastern University School of Law and was a visiting professor at Harvard Law (including running its death penalty clinic).
​I write, so that makes me a writer. Aside from writing many essays and scholarly articles, I am the author of one book, Executing Justice: An Inside Account of the Case of Mumia Abu Jamal, which contains a Forward by the novelist E.L. Doctorow.
I also help people perform better. Through psychotherapy, I guide people to more clarity about their inner lives and how they engage with others.
I am a litigation consultant, helping lawyers with their briefs and crafting strategy. I'm also a performance coach. I help people become better writers, public speakers, and test-takers (e.g., LSAT), and I consult on the academic admissions process.
BIO
I travel to keep my mental gears well-oiled. I do my best to practice Zen to keep my attitude fresh and open. I write to keep things in perspective. I’ve hung out in lots of places, learned that we all yearn for something more than status and things (many just aren't awake to that fact), and have seen the downside of up and the good side of bad. I’ve been high and, wow, I’ve been low. I think you all know what I mean. I appreciate your visit. Do your best to be real, and I’ll do the same.
APPEARANCES
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PRESENTATIONS
Aviv Center for Living (2013): Delivered talk to elder healthcare network, entitled What’s Zen Got To Do With It? Mindfulness and Counseling the Elderly
Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey (summer 2008): Invitation to present work-in- progress relating to cultural significance of U.S. war-on- terror jurisprudence.
Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, MA (2008): Moderator of full-day symposium on Guantanamo detention.
University of Parma, Parma, Italy (2007): Panelist on U.S. criminal justice system. Presentation on capital punishment jurisprudence.
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA (2007): Panelist for program on crimes of the civil rights era.
Georgetown Law Center, Wash., D.C. (2007): Panelist on capital punishment, sponsored by the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and Humanities.
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Annual Conference, Boston, MA (2006): Presentation and workshop leader on appellate advocacy.
Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Training Seminar at Univ. of Tennessee (2005): Presentation on presenting expert witnesses in child-sex abuse prosecutions.
New England School of Law, Symposium on Juvenile Justice, Boston, MA (1995): Presentation on Roper v. Simmons and the Supreme Court’s ban on imposing the death penalty on juvenile offenders.
Consumer Rights Conference, Boston, MA (2004): Presentation on expert testimony in consumer litigation.
CUNY Law School, New York, N.Y. 2000
Cardozo Law School, New York, N.Y. 2000
New York University Law School, New York, N.Y. 1997
City College of New York, New York, N.Y. 1996
University of Humboldt, Berlin, Germany 1996
Temple University Law School, Philadelphia, PA 1995
Fordham University Law School, New York, N.Y. 1995
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (1994)
N.Y. Bar Association, New York, N.Y. (1994)
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MEDIA APPEARANCES
MSNBC with Brian Williams
ABC’s Good Morning America
CNN
FOX News (multiple occasions)
CNBC with Geraldo Rivera (Rivera Live) (multiple occasions)
Dateline NBC
ABC’s 20/20
CBS’s 48 Hours
Court TV (multiple occasions)
WBAI radio (multiple occasions)
KPFA radio (multiple occasions)
National Public Radio (multiple occasions)
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AWARDS & RECOGNITION
AWARDS & HONORS
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Pushcart Prize Nominee (2018) for The Odysseus Agreement, published in Carbon Copy Review.
Joseph T. Flibbert Honorary Award (2012), second prize, for No Place to Turn but Inward: Mindfulness and the Art of Conscious Dying
Finalist for Harvard Law School’s Gary Bellow Public Service Award (2007 & 2008)
Northeastern University School of Law Teacher of the Year (2007) (student vote)
Thurgood Marshall Award (1998)
Morton Stavis Memorial Justice Award (1997)
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship Award (1982)
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EDUCATIONAL DEGREES & RELEVANT TRAINING
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Harvard Law School (JD, 1986) (cum laude)
University of California, Berkeley (BA, 1983) (magna cum laude)
Salem State University (M.S. in Psychological Counseling 2013) (summa cum laude)
Mediation Training: Metropolitan Mediation Services (2011)
Zen Meditation Training: Blue Cliff Monastery, Pine Bush, N.Y. and Cambridge Zen Center,
Cambridge, MA (2005-07, 2011-12)
Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Training: Shambhala Center, Boston (2009-13)
Mindfulness Training: Omega Center for Holistic Studies, Rhinebeck, N.Y. (2010)
Negotiation Training: Harvard Negotiation Project, Cambridge, MA (2005)
Psychodrama and Gestalt Training: Trial Lawyers College, Dubois, WY (1994-2001)
WRITING SERVICES
Artful editing and constructive critiques for stories, essays, and academic papers
PUBLIC SPEAKING
Craft the presentation and perfect the delivery
PERFORMANCE COACHING
Litigation Strategizing
Trial and Appellate Brief Writing
Developing winning personal statements
LSAT Preparation
Performance optimization
