Paul R. Williams is co-founder and Executive Director of PILPG. Since 1995 PILPG has provided pro bono legal assistance to states and governments involved in peace negotiations, drafting post-conflict constitutions, and prosecuting war criminals. In 2005, Dr. Williams, as Executive Director of PILPG, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by half a dozen of his pro bono government clients.

Dr. Williams is regarded as a social entrepreneur for his practical and innovative approach to providing pro bono legal assistance to states and governments. During the course of his legal practice, Dr. Williams has assisted over a dozen states and governments in major international peace negotiations, including serving as a delegation member in the Dayton negotiations (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Rambouillet/Paris negotiations (Kosovo), Lake Ohrid negotiations (Macedonia), and Podgorica/Belgrade negotiations (Serbia/Montenegro). He also advised parties to the Key West negotiations (Nagorno-Karabakh), the Oslo/Geneva negotiations (Sri Lanka), the Georgia/Abkhaz negotiations, and the Somalia peace talks.

He has advised fifteen governments across Europe, Africa and Asia on matters of public international law. Dr. Williams has advised the governments of Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Kosovo, Montenegro and Nagorno-Karabakh on the drafting and implementation of post-conflict constitutions. He is also experienced advising governments on issues of state recognition, self-determination, and state succession including advising the President of Macedonia and the Foreign Minister of Montenegro. On issues relating to border and sea demarcations and negotiations, Dr. Williams has advised the President of Estonia and the Foreign Minister of East Timor.

Dr. Williams has testified before the U.S. Congress and provided expert commentary in the British House of Commons on matters of public international law and peace negotiations.

In addition to serving as the Executive Director of PILPG, Dr. Williams holds the Rebecca Grazier Professorship in Law and International Relations at American University where he teaches in the School of International Service and the Washington College of Law.

Previously, Dr. Williams served in the Department of State's Office of the Legal Advisor for European and Canadian Affairs, as a Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and as a Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of Cambridge. He is a Member of the American Society of International Law and serves on the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations.

Dr. Williams is a leading scholar on peace negotiations and post-conflict constitutions. He has authored four books on topics of international human rights, international environmental law and international norms of justice, and over two dozen articles on a wide variety of public international law topics. Dr. Williams is also a sought-after international law and policy analyst, and has been interviewed more than 250 times by major print and broadcast media. He has published op-eds in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, International Herald Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal Europe, and Le Monde.