There was a specific moment when Kelsey Williams realized she might be well-suited to pursue a career as a lawyer.
She was reading the preface of a poetry textbook for her undergraduate studies when a passage resonated with her:
“Literature has much practical knowledge to offer you. An art of words, it can help you become more sensitive to language — both your own and other people’s. It can make you aware of the difference between the word that is exactly right and the word that is merely good enough. … Supreme Court Justice, John Paul Stevens, once remarked that the best preparation for law school is to study poetry. Why? … It may be because ‘no other discipline so closely replicates the central question asked in the study of legal thinking: Here is a text; in how many ways can it have meaning?’”
Williams’ parents, recognizing her innate ability to “argue with a stump,” had long urged her to pursue a career as a lawyer. She had pushed back.
But the passage before her “captured the connection between poetry and legal reasoning, both of which require precision, interpretation and an understanding of nuance,” she told The Texas Lawbook.
Now a decade into her legal career, Williams “has had a transformative impact on Workwise,” where she is associate general counsel, said Olivia Howe, chief legal officer of the Austin-based “technology company that provides a workforce management platform and source-to-pay solution tailored for the energy sector.”
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas Fort Worth Chapter and The Lawbook have named Williams a finalist for the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsize Legal Department, which is six to 20 lawyers. Williams and other award finalists will be honored Jan. 30.
Williams built Workrise’s lien-tracking program “from the ground up,” Howe said. The collections program she developed has recovered more than $33 million of at-risk AR in under four years.
“Through her program and other litigation efforts, Kelsey and her team were able to secure tens of millions of dollars in collections,” Howe said. “Her ability to manage both in-house and outside counsel litigation, totaling over $49 million in controversy, is remarkable.”
To get the sophisticated sub-department to where it is, Williams assembled a team of lawyers and support personnel to overhaul Workrise’s collections process. They created a lien-tracking program that standardized forms, streamlined deadlines, tracked responsibilities and enabled precise performance metrics reporting, William said. The result: A nearly 100 percent AR eligibility rate that directly improved the company’s financial health and operational stability, Williams said.
Williams’ program “is now foundational to Workrise’s profitability and stability in the energy sector,” said Saba Syed, a partner at Bell Nunnally who nominated Williams.
“Using her signature brand of meticulous and thoughtful legal work, Kelsey created a mechanic’s lien program from her home office, sending lien notices for Workrise projects across the country, all while complying with varying state laws,” said Syed, noting that complex mechanic’s liens are ripe for errors that can be severely consequential to a company.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Kelsey Williams discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Williams almost didn’t become a lawyer. Bucking her parents’ persuasions — her dad, Steve Magee, was an attorney in Southern California who recently retired — she initially pursued an undergraduate degree in physics and electrical engineering at the University of Florida. She eventually gave in to her passion for poetry and literature and switched her concentration to English and creative writing. That’s when she read the fateful passage in her Introduction to Poetry textbook.
She held onto that book and keeps it on her bookshelf.
“To this day, I credit my study of poetry and literature for shaping my ability to think critically and interpret language — skills that have been invaluable in my legal career,” Williams said.
Williams went on to earn her law degree from Baylor Law School in 2014. Upon graduation, she went to work at Bell Nunnally where she found herself in litigation. She quickly cemented herself as a “go to” lawyer for the firm’s senior partner in the collections and mechanic’s lien practice group, Syed said.
Williams left Bell Nunnally in 2017, then worked as a senior associate editor at Thomson Reuters and as a lawyer at Ogletree Deakins before landing at Workrise in November 2020, about four months after giving birth to her first daughter. She now has two daughters with her husband, Brad Williams, who was a lawyer at Winstead for seven years and is now vice president of land acquisition and entitlements at Plano-based homebuilder Green Brick Partners.
The transition to in-house was both challenging and rewarding, Williams said. She had to go from being a specialist with expertise in a few areas of law to a generalist who needed to come up with answers under tight deadlines.
She approached new inquiries with curiosity. Her mind was set on problem-solving. She researched quickly. The fruits of her labor were realized. The scope of her work grew. She was brought into strategy meetings. She felt her input was valued and her colleagues relied on her.
About a year into the job, Williams faced a serious problem that had befallen one of the company’s subsidiaries. A general contractor on a solar project refused to pay $2.2 million in retainage on a completed project.
“In the past, our company would have either been stuck in drawn-out negotiations or forced to hire outside counsel to pursue a lien, both of which would have caused delays and increased costs,” Williams said.
But not this time. Liens were Williams’ expertise. She wasted no time. In a single day, Williams prepared the necessary notices and lien documents.
Four business days later, the general contractor wired the full $2.2 million.
“It was the largest and fastest recovery of my career, and it felt incredible to be directly responsible for such a big win,” Williams said. “Moments like that remind me why I love what I do — using my expertise to deliver tangible results that make a real difference for the business.”
Williams’ role recently expanded to include managing the company’s lawyers who handle defense litigation across a variety of issues, including employment disputes, Fair Labor Standards Act claims, property damage and personal injury cases.
Williams said she seeks outside counsel who are collaborative. She enjoys handling cases herself and has the experience to do so but lacks the time, which is why outside counsel comes in, she said. So when outside lawyers are hired, she wants to be treated like a peer.
“I look for proactive and communicative attorneys that view me as part of the team,” Williams said. “I want to be involved in strategy discussions and consulted on decisions that impact my cases.”
Williams possesses a natural acumen for the realities of active litigation, Syed said. She carefully weighs the practical considerations and likely outcomes of each case, taking into account the nuances of opposing counsel and the unpredictability of the judicial process, which allows her to skillfully evaluate legal strategies and apply them to deliver favorable outcomes, Syed said.
Williams’ willingness to do work normally delegated to outside counsel has saved Workrise a substantial amount of money, Syed said. Williams once led her in-house team in a multimillion-dollar arbitration, Syed said.
But perhaps her biggest marks on Workrise have been the development of internal practices that have cut the need for active litigation.
“One of the greatest signs of her professional success is that the need for Workrise to retain outside counsel to handle active litigation has greatly decreased thanks to her proactive policies and procedures,” Syed said. “Workrise is able to resolve more disputes without proceeding to costly litigation or arbitration.”
FUN FACTS: Kelsey Williams
- Favorite book: Native Son. I first read it as a very young adult, but it left a lasting impact on me. It’s such an immersive, gripping, true-crime-esque thriller (my favorite genre); Bigger’s anxiety and fear is palpable as he grapples with problems of his own making that spiral further out of control. It’s a powerful narrative and an unflinching exploration of systemic oppression, making it unforgettable.
- Favorite music group: It’s truly not fair to have to pick just one. My go-to rotation is usually Snow Patrol, Death Cab for Cutie and Hozier.
- Favorite movie: Jurassic Park. It has everything — adventure, suspense and, of course, lots of dinosaurs wreaking havoc. I could rewatch it again and again.
- Favorite restaurant: Sushi Sake. I generally order a classic sampling of nigiri or whatever is on special. You really can’t go wrong.
- Favorite beverage: A good Sancerre or New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
- Favorite vacation ever: A girls’ trip to Iceland in late winter. Absolutely gorgeous landscapes, like nothing I had ever seen.
- Hero in life: My husband Brad. We complement each other in so many ways, but I truly admire his natural ease in speaking up and asking tough questions. He approaches new challenges with confidence and dedication, and he has an incredible ability to focus on the details, making sure that important tasks are done right. He loves his family immensely and is always looking out for us. His example inspires me every day.