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Richard L. Williams

Richard L. Williams is an experienced attorney whose professional background includes both private law firm and in-house corporate counsel experience. His clients include individuals, partnerships, not-for-profits, homeowners associations, and small to mid-sized businesses on a wide array of matters including corporate, commercial and residential real estate, land use and zoning, estate planning and administration, and select civil litigation.

He regularly counsels businesses, from small start-up ventures to medium sized business, on a diverse range of legal and operational matters that include entity formation, employment issues, mergers and acquisitions, assets sales, partnership and shareholder disputes, buy-sell agreements, corporate governance and general business matters.

During the course of his career, he has handled numerous complex real estate transactions in Illinois and nationally, and all aspects of land development including contract negotiation, annexation and development agreements, rezoning, planned unit developments, and municipal financing and tax incentives.  He has served as counsel for numerous local and national developers, builders and retailers on residential, commercial, and mixed-use development projects ranging in size from less than one acre to thousands of acres. His development projects include extensive involvement with numerous municipalities in the collar counties of Chicago, as well as projects in Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana and Michigan.

He has also represented and advised various municipalities, school districts, and units of local government in the budget and levy process; boundary disputes; annexation of territory; zoning and land use matters; the negotiation and drafting of Annexation Agreements, Development Agreements and Planned Unit Developments; Quo Warranto and Mandamus proceedings; territorial disconnections; as well as served as Village Prosecutor for several municipalities. He has provided guidance for compliance with respect to the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act; general municipal and corporate matters; and, general municipal litigation.  He has counseled clients with respect to compliance with the Illinois Campaign Disclosure Act. He also represents the Commuter Rail Division of the Regional Transportation Authority in transactional and land use matters.

Rick’s legal career began with a small Kane County law firm where he engaged in the general practice of law and concentrated in municipal and real estate development. He was a partner at Rooks Pitts and Poust and later at Dykema Gossett, PLLC, a national law firm. He also served as a managing attorney for a fortune 500 energy company, as well as general counsel for a small land development company. On January 1, 2011, he co-founded Griffin|Williams, LLP. He resides with his family in Geneva, Illinois, and is the former President of the Mill Creek Water Reclamation District and is a trustee with the Kane County Regional Board of Education.

Recognizing that the practice of law is fundamentally about helping people work through problems and planning for the future, Rick also enjoys assisting clients with their unique legal needs, including estate planning and administration, traffic and misdemeanor criminal matters, adoptions, and personal real estate needs.

EDUCATION

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Bachelors of Arts, History, 1992
Northern Illinois University College of Law Juris Doctor, 1995 cum laude

BAR ADMISSIONS

State of Illinois
United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
United States District Court, Central District of Illinois

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Illinois State Bar Association
Kane County Bar Association
Geneva Chamber of Commerce

PRACTICE AREAS

Business Law
Corporate Governance
Real Estate
Zoning & Development
Wills, Trusts & Estates
Condominium & Homeowner Associations
Misdemeanors & Traffic
Civil Litigation