Steven Williams

I have been a litigator for over twenty-five years. I was an attorney in the US Navy JAG Corps for five years, where I acted as a prosecutor/trial attorney, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, and as counsel to Rear Admiral F.M. Dirren. I tried over seventy cases to verdict while in the Navy and reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Upon leaving the Navy in 1995, I joined Smith, Sovik, Kendrick & Sugnet, P.C. I was made a partner at the firm in 1997. I handle a wide range of litigation matters (personal injury, employment law, construction accidents, professional malpractice, motor vehicle claims, commercial litigation, contracts, etc.). I am AV rated by Martindale and Hubble, which is its highest possible rating. I have been included in the Best Lawyers in America since 2007 for my work in personal injury litigation, products liability and employment law. Likewise, and because I practice all over NYS, I have been included among the Best Lawyers in New York City, Central New York, and Western New York. For the past several years, I have been included as as one of the top 50 attorneys in Upstate New York by SuperLawyers.com. I was named the Syracuse area attorney of the year by Best Lawyers for 2023. I have had the pleasure of appearing before most of the appellate courts in NYS. I had the honor of making what was viewed as "new law" by the NY Law Journal when I represented a large retailer before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. I have earned several multi-million dollar verdicts. Among those was the largest defamation verdict in our nation's history ($188 million), stemming from a case I tried in Brooklyn, NY. More recently, I had great success recovering money for union pension funds relative to their losses stemming from the Madoff Ponzi scheme. In February of 2014, I represented an oil import company on a contract claim in a three-week trial in Houston, and I earned a judgment of $1.4 billion. In May of 2022, I represented a client who had been exposed to lead on land he purchased from a city. I sued the city and tried the case before a jury. The jury found for my client and awarded $42 million in damages. Notwithstanding my success in the cases mentioned here, I primarily defend individuals, retailers and companies in litigation throughout NYS. I have appeared on the O'Reilly Factor and several local television programs to discuss various legal issues. I take great pride in my work, and I enjoy it.