Justice Milton L. Williams was born in Augusta, Georgia on November 14, 1932. His family moved to New York City when he was very young and he was raised and educated there. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1951, and entered the Navy, serving as a Radioman 2nd Class Petty Officer. He was honorably discharged in 1955. He joined the New York City Police Department in 1957, and while employed there, earned his B.S. degree from NYU (Class of 1960) and his LLB from New York Law School (Class of 1963). At the Law School he also won the American Jurisprudence Award for Constitutional Law. Both degrees were earned on an accelerated basis.

Upon law school graduation, Justice Williams began a diverse legal career that included positions as a staff attorney for the Allstate Insurance Co.; U.S. Small Business Administration, Regional Counsel for the State of New Jersey; General Counsel and Director of Hunts Point Legal Services; Associate General Counsel for the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption and the City's Anti-Corrupt Procedures (Knapp Commission); Executive Director of the New York State Special Commission on Attica (McKay Commission); Special Prosecutor for the New York City Civil Service Commission; culminating in his appointment to the bench in 1977. Since his 1977 appointment to the Criminal Court of the City of New York, Justice Williams has risen rapidly through the judicial ranks--he became Supervising Judge of the New York County Criminal Court and Acting Justice of the Supreme Court (1978); Administrative Judge of the First Judicial District (Manhattan)-Supreme Court, Criminal Term (1983, while still a Criminal Court Judge); Justice of the New York State Supreme Court (1985); Deputy Chief Administrative Judge in charge of the New York City Courts (1985-1993); Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department (1994-2001, 2003 - ) and Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department (2002).

Justice Williams' affiliations are numerous and reflect his many interests and concerns. His professional affiliations include the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and former member of New York Law School Board of Trustees. Other affiliations include the Board of Trustees of St. John's University; the American Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; the Board of Trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral; the Board of Trustees of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund; Former President's Commission on White House Fellowships and Sigma Pi Phi, Fraternity, Zeta Boule.

Justice Williams has received a number of honors and awards including: Honorary Doctorates of Laws from New York Law School, St. John's University and Long Island University; The Guild of Catholic Lawyers' Charles Carroll Award; the New York State Trial Lawyers Association's Harlan Fiske Stone Award; the New York County Lawyers Association's Humanitarian Award; the Bronx Black Bar Association's Outstanding Achievement Award; the New York County Lawyers Association's Judge Capozolli Award; the Jewish Lawyers Guild's Golda Meir Award; the Metropolitan Black Bar Association Award; the Macon B. Allen Bar Association Award; The Catholic Interracial Council of New York's John LaFarge Memorial Award for Interracial Justice; the Guardians Association Gold & Silver Award and the Washington Irving High School Student Appreciation Award.