Judge Stephanie J. Williams was elected on Aug. 1, 2024, to serve as Circuit Court Judge for the 20th Judicial District. She fills the vacancy created by the passing of Judge Philip E. Smith in September 2022. Judge Smith had served as Judge Williams’ longtime mentor and was instrumental in her decision to become a judge.
“I think at some point I realized I could do the work,” said Judge Williams. “Judge Philip Smith, I think, saw that in me and gave me the opportunity to work for him as his special master in 2014, which was a good training ground for that.”
As a special master, Judge Williams handled judicial settlement conferences which she described as informal mediations for resolving cases before they go to trial.
“I think he was very intentional about the exposure and showing me things that would prepare me to do this,” said Judge Williams. “He was very vocal about the fact that he believed I could be his successor, and he wanted that for me, assuming I wanted that for myself. That really gave me the confidence that I could do it. The only part of that puzzle that didn’t materialize the way I envisioned it would have, and that I would have wanted it to, was that he’d be alongside of me on that journey. His unfortunate passing did not allow for that.”
However, a special memento belonging to Judge Smith was used in the investiture ceremony.
“A highlight of it was Pam Smith, who is the widow of Judge Phil Smith, was there and she brought Judge Smith’s Bible. She held his Bible with my mother as I took the oath.”
The investiture ceremony featured a performance by Grammy Award-winning artist CeCe Winans. Special guests included Judge Angelita Blacksheer Dalton, Judge Stanley Kweller, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, and Dan Boone, president of Trevecca Nazarene University where the ceremony was held. Judge Williams graduated from Trevecca as a non-traditional student in May 2000.
“I graduated from high school and went straight to undergrad after that at Fisk University,” said Judge Williams. “In my sophomore year, I had to step away because I had a family. I had children—one child at that time and 18 months later another child—so I was a single mother and education, particularly in the traditional sense, was no longer an option for me. But working multiple jobs was."
She continued: "That’s what I did and one of my jobs I was working for attorney Richard Manson on his entertainment side of things... He just kind of said one day ‘you should go to law school.’"
And she did. Part of figuring it out meant finishing her bachelor’s degree.
“Trevecca...had a program which catered toward working adults,” said Judge Williams. “They had it set up in a way where I could take one class at a time...and test out of some subjects to complete my undergrad."
After graduating from Trevecca, she applied and was accepted at the University of Tennessee College of Law at Knoxville. With family help caring for her children, she commuted from Nashville to Knoxville for two-and-a-half years earning her law degree in 2002.
It all came together when she heard her first court cases on September 9, 2024.
“I heard adoption cases,” she said. “Those are fun days... It’s nice to see people coming in here excited about expanding their families."
Judge Williams spent the previous week working with court staff establishing themselves as a team discussing ideas for change.
“It might be too early to say," she noted," but I'm just eager to give our family courts a different feel...to really be more relational versus transactional..."
She wants everyone who enters her courtroom to understand her commitment within legal bounds while fostering hope.
“That they don’t walk out of here worse than when they walked in,” said Judge Williams." We certainly wish they have more hope...more stability...and greater impacts on outcomes received from our court."