Attorney
Ridgeland, Mississippi, 39157
William was born in Jackson, Mississippi, where he graduated from Murrah High School. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1968 and a Master of Business Administration in 1970 from the University of Southern Mississippi. William was a first lieutenant in the United States Army with the 1st Infantry Division from 1970 to 1972. He earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1974, and served as business manager of the Mississippi Law Journal.
William practices with Wright Gregg & Proctor, P.A. in Ridgeland, a firm of three lawyers with a statewide practice limited to family law, which includes divorce, child custody, property division, marital contracts, and international child abduction cases. He also mediates family law cases. Wright Law Firm, P.A. has been selected as one of the Best Firms for family law in America by U.S. News & World Report.
Since 2001, William has been listed in Best Lawyers in America in family law and was named Lawyer of the Year for 2013 and 2017. He is also listed in the Mid-South Edition of SuperLawyers in family law since its inception in 2006. In 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018, William was named one of the top 50 lawyers in Mississippi in all categories by SuperLawyers. In 2010, The Mississippi Business Journal named him as one of 50 Mississippi lawyers in that publication’s initial Leadership in Law Class. William is rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.
William has served on the Taxation Committee of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association. He has been active with the Mississippi Bar and served two terms as Chairman of the Bar’s Family Law Section. William served on the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Bar Foundation; as a Mississippi Bar Commissioner from 2006 to 2009; and on the Committee on Professional Responsibility from 2010 to 2013. He is past President of the Capital Area Bar Association (“CABA”) and served on its Legal Economics Committee and People's Law School Committee for several years. William was awarded the 2015 Professionalism Award by CABA. A frequent seminar speaker, he founded the annual “Hot Tips from the Experts in Family Law Seminar” in 1994. In 2002, William was invited by the University of Texas School of Law to serve as moderator for the Symposium titled “Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: Triumph or Disaster?”
William is one of four Mississippi fellows in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the state’s only fellow in the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. In 2015, William was named one of the 100 top lawyers in America by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. He is one of only 100 U.S. family lawyers who are diplomates in the American College of Family Trial Lawyers. William has served for several years on the editorial board of The Matrimonial Strategist where many of his articles have been published nationally.
William is past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Metropolitan Jackson, past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Downtown YMCA, and is a member of the Leadership Jackson Alumni Association. He is a member of the USM Alumni Association, the USM M-Club Alumni Association, and the University of Mississippi Alumni Association. William is a member of the Lamar Order, and has served on the Board of Directors of the USM Foundation. He has served two terms on the Board of Directors of The Shepherd's Staff Counseling Center and formerly served as President and board member of the Neighborhood Christian Center and board member of Covenant Presbyterian Preschool. William has been a member of the Mississippi Museum of Art, Craftsman’s Guild of Mississippi, Madison County Foundation, Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership and Ridgeland Chamber of Commerce.
William and his wife, DeAnn, have two daughters: Julia, a marriage and family therapist at Turning Point Counseling; and Anna, a pharmacist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. DeAnn is a representative with Boston Scientific, and she also owns and operates Manners by Ms. Wright. They are all members of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson.
