Former Commissioner Derrick L. Williams is one of the youngest-ever to be appointed to the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission. He was appointed in March 2007, and he served until January 31, 2013, when he decided to return to private practice. He is responsible for spear-heading the effort to make mediation of workers’ compensation available for complex injury by accident cases in South Carolina.
Prior to joining the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission, he was an associate at a national law firm based in South Carolina. He practiced in the areas of business litigation, franchise and distribution litigation, and labor and employment.
As a founding partner with Williams & Roche, Derrick’s practice is devoted to representing injured workers and serving as a mediator for all civil litigation matters. Derrick is a member of the National Academy Distinguished Neutrals.
Derrick earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2002, where he was a member of the South Carolina Environmental Law Journal. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in the Honors Program at the College of Charleston in 1999. He ran Cross Country and Track for the College of Charleston, and he was the team captain of both his senior season.
Born in Florence, South Carolina, he and his family moved later to Columbia, South Carolina, where he graduated from Dreher High School. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the College of Charleston, having been elected in April 2024, and serves on the Executive Committee. He is the Past President of the Riverbanks Zoo Society Board. He is the first black President of the College of Charleston Alumni Association and has previously served on the College of Charleston Honors College Advisory Board and the College of Charleston English Department Alumni Advisory Board. He has previously been a member in the American Bar Association, where he was involved in the T.I.P.S. Workers’ Compensation Section. He is a member of the John Belton O’Neall American Inn of Court and the Stanford E. Lacy American Inn of Court. Derrick also previously served on the South Carolina Board of Law Examiners.
He is a Past President of the Richland County Bar Association. He serves on the Central Carolina Community Foundation Board, where he is the Vice Chair. He also serves on the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Educational Association Executive Committee. He was named in the 2024 Edition of the Best Lawyers rankings as “Lawyer of the Year” for his work in Claimants Workers’ Compensation Law.
