Class of 1975
Robert Gray Williams grew up on a small dairy farm in Clovis with his parents, Dwight and Ruth, and his older sister, Nancy. Regardless of whatever else he did - from the age of 12 - he worked on the family farm. Mr. Williams attended Clovis High School here in this beautiful building before it became our beloved SJCL campus. It is possible he is the only Clovis High and SJCL graduate to have his name both engraved in the sidewalk out front (as a high schooler), AND hanging on the wall upstairs as Valedictorian of his law school class!
Throughout high school Mr. Williams competed in track and cross-country, and his passion for the sport continued through college at Fresno State. He majored in Business Administration with Minors in Economics and Industrial Tech, and he obtained his undergraduate degree with honors.
After college, Mr. Williams split his time between a job in textiles, and the United States Army Reserve. It was a friend at the Army summer camp who told him about a new local law school: San Joaquin College of Law. The friend enrolled instead at Humphreys Law College when he didn’t make the SJCL cut, but the law school bug had gotten lodged in Bob’s ear. On a Thursday afternoon he called SJCL to inquire about enrollment, and the following Friday he was an aspiring law student.
While he says he never intended to become a lawyer, and doubted that he would even finish law school, Mr. Williams’ eventual work at the Public Defender’s office fired him up enough to seal his fate.
During his time at SJCL, Robert became a certified law student and handled misdemeanor cases in the Fresno municipal and justice courts. He later handled cases at Juvenile Hall as well, which he calls an invaluable experience.
After graduation Robert was hired as a law clerk at a local civil defense firm. He passed the bar exam that same year and moved into an associate attorney position, where he stayed until the spring of 1980. Then he joined a small plaintiff’s personal Injury firm headed by Robert Perez. Since then new partners have come and gone but Robert has endured. He is now semi-retired but as busy as ever. Having given up his duties as managing partner at Perez, Williams, Medina & Rodriguez in 2020, Robert says he plans to stay on as long as he is an active contributor.
It is the freedom he says he enjoys most - to practice the kind of law he prefers. When helping injured clients and clients who have been taken advantage of – Robert says he feels most fulfilled. During his tenure at the firm, he has handled personal injury negligence and products liability cases, insurance coverage and bad faith cases, and cases on contested elections. He has appeared before courts in many counties in California; Federal court in both the Eastern and Central Districts of California and has argued cases in the Federal Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the 5th District of California, and the California Supreme Court.
In 1988 Robert and his wife Julie Brungess (a 1982 SJCL graduate) moved to Madera County where they enjoy country living while working in their respective law practices.
In addition to some international travel, mostly to Ireland, Robert and Julie took up cycling with their son, Ryan. As Ryan became involved in competitive mountain bike racing, the two found it more enjoyable to also compete in races, over watching from the sidelines. They have spent many happy times biking together along with friends - although their outings now include a little assist from some electric bikes!
Robert would like to thank SJCL for the wonderful opportunity a law degree has given to both he and Julie in the pursuit of careers they have both greatly enjoyed.