Alaine S. Williams

An authority on public employee labor law, Alaine S. Williams has been a partner with Willig, Williams & Davidson since 1986. Alaine focuses her practice on labor and employment law, representing public sector labor unions and protecting the rights of workers.

Alaine’s efforts have included drafting and defending Pennsylvania legislation on behalf of public sector labor unions to require all nonmembers in a bargaining unit to pay fair share fees for benefits negotiated on their behalf, thereby enhancing the economic and political power of public sector unions in Pennsylvania. The legislation ultimately resulted in increased wages, benefits and job security for countless employees throughout the commonwealth.

Alaine successfully represented 150 disabled state employees who faced termination from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, enjoining the furlough sought by the Commonwealth and saving the employees’ jobs. Other notable achievements include expanding the value and worth of interest arbitration awards for correction officers and court employees in Pennsylvania; filing numerous lawsuits to secure payment for public employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act when legislative bodies have failed to enact budgets, and representing 1,000 University of Pennsylvania graduate students who chose to unionize following the historic National Labor Relations Board decision, issued in 2000, involving graduate students at New York University.

In addition to serving as an advocate for Pennsylvania workers and unions, Alaine is a frequent lecturer and has authored articles addressing employee rights, constitutional matters and race and gender discrimination. She is a former Assistant Director of the Florida Commission on Human Relations, where she administered an anti-discrimination program for the State of Florida. Alaine also lived in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she taught a course on the American legal system to Afghan judges and lawyers.

Prior to achieving her LL.M. at Columbia University, Alaine received her J.D. from Florida State University where she served as the editor of Law Review and received the Tubbs MD/JD Memorial Award for Commitment to Public Service.