Steven N. Williams

Williams was about two weeks into a jury trial in a major antitrust class action over price-fixing in the capacitor industry last March when the pandemic court closures forced a mistrial.

In more than a quarter century of practice, Williams has held leadership roles in more than a dozen antitrust cases and recovered more than $2 billion for his clients.

So the mistrial didn't stop him, nor the two first-year associates from his capacitors trial team.

He and associates Christopher Young and Anupama Reddy, plus another Saveri firm attorney, turned their attention to a trio of pro bono cases sent over from the Northern District of California's Federal Pro Bono Project.

The judges didn't want to delay those cases, Williams said. "And we got three wonderful successes in a row for those clients."

In one, they represented a woman in a civil rights suit alleging Antioch police officers beat her. She received some compensation, but the police department also agreed to have its officers wear body cameras. "That's the beautiful thing," Williams said.

He and the associates also represented an African American man claiming he was fired because of his race.

After the matter settled favorably, the client called to report that he had brought a second case on his own using what he learned watching the Saveri team. "He learned to negotiate. He learned it's a two-way thing," Williams said. "It's those things that happen as a result of the cases that you don't foresee. It's just so wonderful."

In the third pro bono case, he and his associates went after federal park rangers who drew their guns on a man fishing with his dog in at a park near the Oregon border. He was arrested but then released the next day "as if nothing had happened."

The resolution in that case included an agreement that park rangers would receive additional training about how to interact with civilians.

Williams said he finds such cases to be very fulfilling. "It's not just money changes hands, it's some change that's going to create benefit in the future happens, too."

In addition, his first-year associates learned excellent litigation skills. "They knew how to do depositions in Zoom like they were old pros," he said.

Williams has yet another pro bono case in progress. This time he is defending a man being sued by the federal government after he created a business to provide less expensive telephone services for prisoners. That case is set for trial shortly.

Meanwhile, the big capacitors price-fixing case is scheduled for a retrial in August. The plaintiffs' have already secured $439.55 million in settlements. In Re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, 3:17-md-02801-JD (N.D. Cal., filed Dec. 5, 2017).

-- Don DeBenedictis