Michael G. Williamson of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida has died. He was a member of The American Law Institute for over 15 years.
Williamson graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976 and practiced law in Orlando, Florida for two decades. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit appointed him to the Middle District of Florida in 2000, where he served for over 20 years. He was the court’s chief judge from 2015 to 2019.
From tribute posted on the court’s website:
As a judge, Judge Williamson fulfilled his vocation as a writer, speaker, and educator. During his twenty-two years on the bench, Judge Williamson authored more than 220 reported decisions, spoke at more than 280 seminars, and authored a?Practical Evidence Manual, a go-to resource for Middle District bankruptcy practitioners. Judge Williamson also served as a co-author of West’s?Bankruptcy Law Manual?since 2013 and as an Adjunct Professor at Stetson University College of Law since 2014. Judge Williamson’s influence on the practice of bankruptcy law in the State of Florida, and nationally, cannot be overstated.
Judge Williamson is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy. He was the first recipient of The Florida Bar Business Law Section’s Distinguished Lifetime Service Award, and in October 2022, Judge Williamson received the Judge William L. Norton, Jr. Judicial Excellence Award, a national award presented annually by the American Bankruptcy Institute in recognition of a bankruptcy judge’s dedication to the insolvency community.
Judge Williamson was also instrumental in developing the Rule of Law abroad. He has assessed commercial laws in Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. And he has taught principles of insolvency law to lawyers and judges in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of Georgia, Bahrain, and Ukraine. But Judge Williamson is perhaps best known for his work in Afghanistan, where, over the course of a decade, he drafted a new bankruptcy law from scratch and oversaw its enactment into law.
Judge Williamson’s passing is a great loss to his wife, Linda, their family and friends, and to his colleagues and the attorneys who appeared before him. In his honor, the United States flags at the Middle District’s courthouses will be flown at half-staff this week.