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SWMW Law Promotes Lauren Williams to Equity Partner

ST. LOUIS, MOSWMW Law, one of the top law firms in the country focusing on asbestos litigation, is proud to announce the promotion of Lauren Williams to equity partner.

“Lauren has continually grown as an attorney, mentor, and leader in her time with the firm, and it goes without saying that she has been instrumental to our success,” said founding partner Ben Schmickle. “This promotion is well-deserved, and we are incredibly fortunate to have her as a member of our team.”

“SWMW’s culture includes rewarding steadfast work and achievement on behalf of our clients and the firm. I am proud to be a member of an inclusive law firm and to work with collbaorative partners, who have positively impacted the trajectory of my career,” Williams said. “I look forward to continuing our work to secure our clients the justice they deserve.”

Williams joined SWMW Law as its first associate attorney in 2013 and became its first female partner in 2016. She leads a niche team within the firm’s asbestos practice, seeking to maximize recoveries from companies that made or supplied absestos-containing products but have since petitioned for bankruptcy. Those companies often emerge from bankruptcy and remain viable, yet they are immune from being sued for their wrongdoing, denying asbestos victims and American workers their ability to seek justice through traditional litigation in the court system.

Considered an authority on the topic, Williams has been asked to speak at conferences and seminars on asbestos bankruptcy trusts. She serves on several of the firm’s leadership committees, through which she is routinely called upon to testify during Missouri legislative sessions against proposed legislation that would be detrimental to clients’ interests. In 2018, she was named a “Law Firm Leader” by Missouri Lawyers Weekly. She represents clients who have been selected and appointed to serve on three Asbestos Claimants Creditors’ Committees in bankruptcy proceedings, as as well as a Trust Advisory Committee.

In her free time, Williams is an active member of the St. Louis community and Bar Association of Metropolitian St. Louis. She earned her J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law and her B.A from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.