William earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law, where he was an executive editor of the Duke Law Journal and a board member on the Moot Court Board. While in law school, he participated on Duke's Civil Justice Clinic and was a legal extern at the Federal Public Defender's Office in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
William also served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Gerald Bard Tjoflat of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.