In 1961, Lloyd E. Williams, Jr. graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and returned to Chicago, the city where he had spent his formative years, to begin his legal career. Lloyd knew he wanted to be a trial lawyer and began his legal career with one of the top litigation firms in the city, Jacobs & McKenna.
In 1962, C. Barry Montgomery graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and he, too, set his sights on Chicago . Barry relished the idea of trying cases and he, like Lloyd, accepted a position with Jacobs & McKenna.
Lloyd and Barry both worked closely with Wyatt Jacobs, the founding partner of Jacobs & McKenna, and recognized as one of Chicago's outstanding trial lawyers. Within a few short years both Lloyd and Barry were handling their own case load and trying cases.
In 1967, Wyatt Jacobs decided to form a new firm dedicated to the art of trial advocacy. He asked Lloyd Williams and Barry Montgomery to join him in this new endeavor. Both agreed and the partnership of Jacobs Williams & Montgomery began operating on March 1, 1967 .
Over the ensuing years, the firm’s client base steadily grew and what had started as a three person firm had grown to more than forty lawyers. In 1985, Wyatt Jacobs retired from the practice of law and, with his retirement, the firm name was changed to Williams & Montgomery, Ltd.
In the mid-1990s, the firm broadened its commercial litigation practice. In 2000, Peter C. John, one of the country’s leading commercial trial lawyers, joined the firm and the name of the firm was changed to Williams Montgomery & John Ltd.
For almost four decades, Williams Montgomery & John has been devoted to representing business clients against a wide variety of claims in civil lawsuits in state and federal courts throughout the United States. With the continued support of our loyal clients we look forward to continuing our tradition as a Firm of Trial Lawyers.