Williams joins French and Grainey Law Firm
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RONAN – Ronan’s newest lawyer is happy he was able to follow the road back home.
Two decades ago Bill Williams was just a kid growing up in the small farming community, a few years younger than the son of Phil Grainey, a lawyer who was still launching the first half of his legal career under the wing of attorney John French.
“I’ve known Bill since he was a young kid,” Grainey said. “I watched him play sports for a number of years and knew his parents Pat and Nancy.”
Williams grew up, graduated from Montana Tech of the University of Montana, and went to work for the Warm Springs Addiction and Treatment program, which helps incarcerated Montanans overcome drug and alcohol abuse problems. One burning dream lingered in the back of Williams’ mind in his time working for the program: he wanted to attend law school and follow in the footsteps of his older sister Cindy Brooks Melton, a Helena attorney.
“I always kind of knew I wanted to go to law school,” Williams said. “My dad got sick and then passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease and I finally decided it was time to go because I always told him I was going to. Then it was one of those things where I felt like now I had to go.”
Williams graduated from the nation’s ninth ranked law school at the University of Michigan in 2013. He didn’t expect he would be able to live close to his hometown, or near his 11-year-old son who resided there.
“I knew it would be a hard market to get back into because there are very few law firms in this area,” Williams said. “I was thinking we would end up having to go to Kalispell or Missoula. I was thinking that was the closest we would get to home.”
In a fortunate twist of fate, fiancée Maria McNeil’s grandfather is now-retired District Judge C.B. McNeil. The then-judge heard of a job opening at French and Grainey in Ronan and let Williams know when he was in town for a summer wedding.
After receiving high recommendations from his professors, Grainey decided to hire Williams.
“It was just a really good fit for Bill and his fiancee,” Grainey said.
Maria McNeil, a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Masters Nursing program, landed a teaching position at Salish Kootenai College around the same time Williams was hired.
“Everything just kind of fell into place,” Williams said.
The new lawyer began working at the firm this January. He will take the bar exam, which will certify him as an attorney, in February. Williams has been studying for the exam and settling into his role at French and Grainey for the past month. He says he is most fond of planning estates or doing other work for clients who saw him grow up. He also enjoys being near the picturesque scenery of the Mission Valley.
“When we were in the Midwest we missed the mountains,” Williams said. “Still this day my favorite things is driving up over Ravalli Hill and seeing the Missions.”
For Grainey, Williams joining the firm’s staff hearkens back to his own first days of practice.
“I’ve been here since 1975,” Grainey said. “I came here and went into practice with John French. John was about my age (now) when he brought me in and was a wonderful mentor for me, so it’s kind of like payback time for me to do the same thing … John stayed on for a few years and got my feet going in the right direction and that’s what I’m thinking of doing with Bill.”
