Hon. William Downing

Board Member

As a trial court judge for nearly 28 years, Hon. William L. Downing (Ret.) brings JAMS expertise in many different areas of law. He has handled thousands of cases as a King County Superior Court Judge, and is widely respected by the legal community as being fair and genuinely neutral. As a judge, he has concentrated almost exclusively on civil litigation of all types. He has established a reputation as being hard-working and even-handed but, beyond that, someone with keen insights into the perspectives of the litigants, the attorneys, and the jury’s likely view of a case.  As an author of many high school mock trial exercises, Judge Downing’s goal has been to help young people appreciate the importance of examining any issue from all sides, a skill he employs everyday as a neutral. In addition to his experience as a jurist and attorney, as Chair of the Bench-Bar-Press Liaison Committee, Judge Downing has mediated hundreds of disputes involving the balancing of interests involved in access to public records. Judge Downing is also a sought-after lecturer and has spoken on topics such as Discovery, Electronic Evidence, Expert Witnesses, Technology & the Courts, and Trial Practice.