Aaron M. Williams
Practice Areas
- Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights
- Intellectual Property, Entertainment, and Technology Protection
- Litigation
Industries
Education
- University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 2012
- Virginia Tax Review, editorial board member, 2010-2012
- Dickinson College, B.A., 2009, magna cum laude
Bar & Court Admissions
Judicial Clerkships
- The Honorable Rebecca B. Connelly, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia, 2012-2014
Aaron is an associate in the Vorys Cleveland office and is a member of the litigation group. He represents public and private companies, as well as individual officers, directors, partners, and fiduciaries, in a broad range of complex business disputes. Aaron’s experience includes matters involving securities fraud, shareholder derivative actions, business torts, and consumer and commercial class actions in both state and federal court. His practice also includes representing clients in connection with the defense or prosecution of their intellectual property rights, including actions involving patent and trademark infringement, trade secrets, and non-competition agreements.
His notable experience includes:
- Representation of a major brewery in a trademark infringement jury trial against a bottler of root beer branded similarly to the client’s iconic marks
- Representation of a public company and its officers and directors in a derivative shareholder class action alleging violations of federal securities law
- Representation of a publicly-traded savings and loan holding company and its officers and directors in connection with a merger strike suit
- Representation of a lender in connection with a consumer class action alleging violations of Ohio’s Uniform Commercial Code and Consumer Sales Practices Act
- Representation of a limited liability company and one of its officers against another officer in private arbitration involving cross claims for breaches of contract and fiduciary duties
- Representation of law firms and attorneys in defense of claims of legal malpractice and other breaches of trust
- Representation of financial institutions and lenders in commercial contract and secured transaction disputes in state and federal courts, as well as administrative tribunals
- Representation of corporations and affinity groups challenging local charter provisions and initiatives purporting to strip corporations of constitutionally protected rights and privileges
Aaron has developed a niche practice representing local governments, trade associations, industry organizations, and affinity groups in connection with election law disputes and ballot challenges before the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office and the Ohio Supreme Court. These representations often involve issues relating to the constitutionality of proposed ballot initiatives or enacted local legislation. Aaron has presented and authored a number of articles on the topic.
Aaron received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the editorial board of the Virginia Tax Review. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Dickinson College, where he was Phi Beta Kappa.
Prior to joining Vorys, Aaron served as a law clerk to the Honorable Rebecca B. Connelly of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia.
Professional and Community Activities
- Member, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Litigation Section Council (2016 – present)
- Member, Dickinson College Admissions Volunteer Society (2014-present)
- Member, Greater Cleveland Young Professionals Council of the American Cancer Society
Events
- 11/20/2015Vorys attorneys Lisa Forbes and Aaron Williams were speakers at the 2015 Oil and Gas Seminar hosted by the Ohio State Bar Association.
Insights
- 1/22/2018Ohio courts were busy in the month of December, issuing a number of opinions related to trust and estate planning and administration.
- 3/14/2017Last week, the Tenth District Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment in favor of an institutional trustee where trust beneficiaries sued the trustee—after executing a release of the trustee for actions taken in administration of the trust— for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
- 3/4/2016The Eighth District Court of Appeals recently struck down the Broadview Heights Community Bill of Rights as an invalid exercise of the home rule authority. The Community Bill of Rights, also known as Article XV of the City Charter, banned new oil and gas drilling and limited operation of current wells in the city. It also made it illegal to challenge Article XV as preempted by state law.
- Aaron Williams, an attorney in the Vorys Cleveland office and member of the litigation group, authored an article titled “Oil and Gas Drilling and Operations in Ohio: The Evolution of the State’s Sole and Exclusive Regulatory Authority” for LexisNexis/Matthew Bender’s Proceedings of the Institute on Oil and Gas Law.
- 10/26/2015Lisa Babish Forbes and Aaron Williams, attorneys in the Vorys Cleveland office, co-authored “Can Localities Use Ballot Power To Ban Oil And Gas Drilling?” for Appellate Law360.
- 8/18/2015On Thursday, August 13, Secretary of State John Husted issued a decision finding that the proposed charter petitions for Athens, Fulton and Medina counties are invalid. The secretary’s decision tracked analysis provided by Vorys’ attorneys Jonathan Airey, Gregory Russell, Lisa Babish Forbes and Aaron Williams in an amicus brief submitted on behalf of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and the Ohio Gas Association.