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Edward Bennett Williams (May 31, 1920 – August 13, 1988) was a Washington, D.C. trial attorney who owned several professional sports teams.

He represented many high profile clients including Frank Sinatra, financier Robert Vesco, Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, spy Igor Melekh, Jimmy Hoffa, organized crime figure Frank Costello, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, Michael Milken, the Washington Post newspaper and the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.

Williams, who was a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Georgetown University Law Center, successfully defended – among others – Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Jimmy Hoffa, and John Connally.

Two of Williams' closest friends were the Washington Post's Art Buchwald and Ben Bradlee. His debating team partner at Holy Cross was Robert Maheu, Howard Hughes's right hand man for many years.

In 1983 his two professional teams, the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Redskins, both won their respective championships. He owned the Orioles from 1980 to 1988. When he bought the Orioles many feared he would move the team to Washington D.C., and these fears increased with the departure of the Colts. However, Williams never moved the team, and under his ownership, the team signed a new long term lease with Baltimore that would pay for a new stadium, which would become Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He would not live to see the new ball park.

Contents 1 Death/Funeral 2 Honors 3 Real Estate investments 4 Family 5 References

After a long battle, Williams succumbed to cancer, aged 68. His funeral was attended by most of Washington's power elite, including then-Vice President George H. W. Bush.

The Edward Bennett Williams Law Library at Georgetown University Law Center is named in his honor.

Among Williams' many real estate holdings was the Jefferson Hotel, a 98 room luxury hotel located near the White House and favored by many sport and political figures in the 1980s/1990s.

Agnes Neill Williams, Edward Bennett Williams' widow, resides in Potomac, Maryland.

• Krebs, Albin. 'Edward Bennett Williams, 68, Influential Trial Lawyer, Dies; A Brilliant 'Superlawyer'. New York Times, August 14, 1988
• Thomas, Evan. The Man to See, 1991.
• Williams, Edward Bennett. One Man's Freedom.