Sharonda Williams to Speak on “Professionalism: The Rewards of Service” at Upcoming LSBA Seminar

On December 12, 2025, Fishman Haygood special counsel Sharonda Williams will present on “Professionalism: The Rewards of Service” as part of the Louisiana State Bar Association’s (LSBA) Ethics & Professionalism: Watch Your P’s and Q’s seminar. Beyond helping attendees obtain their ethics and professionalism CLE credits before year end, the event—and Sharonda’s session specifically—serves to reaffirm an attorney’s responsibility to the judicial system, the public, their colleagues, and the rule of law. Check out the LSBA’s website to learn more about the Code of Professionalism, including the difference between professionalism and ethics, and register for the seminar here.

Sharonda’s distinguished career spans decades of both public service and private practice. She served as City Attorney for the City of New Orleans from May 2013 to November 2015 and as Chief Deputy City Attorney from October 2011 until May 2013. As City Attorney, Sharonda was the lead attorney handling the most comprehensive police consent decree in the history of the United States, as well as the consent decree aimed at reforming the Orleans Parish Jail. Both of those consent decrees required Sharonda to engage in negotiations with the United States Department of Justice on a near daily basis.

Most recently, Sharonda was tapped by New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno to help lead the search for the city’s next chief legal officer. Click here to read more about that appointment.

Throughout her career, Sharonda has also worked to address legal issues that affect women, children, families, and the African American community broadly. She is a past board president of Bridge House and was honored with the Leigh Whitman Director Volunteer of the Year Award at the Bridge House / Grace House 30^th Annual Women of Substance Luncheon earlier this year. She was among the 2011 New Orleans CityBusiness Women of the Year honorees and was recognized by the National Bar Association – Women Lawyers Division with the Outstanding Woman Lawyer Hidden Figure/Impact Award in 2019. Sharonda was also a member of the inaugural class of the Norman C. Francis Leadership Institute from 2012-2014, and she has served on the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union. Learn more about Sharonda here.

Our attorneys regularly lend their time and talent to scholarship and teaching of continuing developments in the law. Click to learn about the firm’s dedication to civic engagement.