William is widely recognized as one of the finest family lawyers in Mississippi. Best Lawyers in America named him “Lawyer of the Year” in family law in 2013, 2017, and 2020. SuperLawyers has also recognized William since its 2006 inception and selected him as one of Mississippi’s “Top 50 Lawyers” in all categories on six occasions. The Mississippi Business Journal chose William as a top fifty practitioner in the state in its initial Leadership in Law Class. 

William is a diplomat in the American College of Family Trial Lawyers, a select group of only 100 family lawyers nationwide. He is a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and also in the International Academy of Family Lawyers. He has tried hundreds of cases, in state and federal courts, and has served as appellate counsel on more than 50 published decisions. William is commonly regarded as integral to the development of Mississippi’s modern divorce, property division, custody and support jurisprudence.

William served as President of the Capital Area Bar Association and was presented the Professionalism Award by that body in 2015. He has served  as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, as a Mississippi Bar Commissioner, and on the Mississippi Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility. In 1994, William founded the popular annual “Hot Tips from the Experts in Family Law Seminar,” and in 2002, the University of Texas invited William to moderate its national Symposium on the Hague Convention and International Child Abduction.

A member of the University of Mississippi’s Lamar Order, William has served on the Boards of the USM Foundation, The Shepherd's Staff Counseling Center, the Neighborhood Christian Center, and the YMCA of Jackson where he was chairman. 

Prior to law school, William served two years as a lieutenant with the Army’s First Infantry Division. 

William and his wife DeAnn have two daughters, Julia, a Licensed Professional Counselor at the Turning Point, and Anna, a pharmacist at University of Mississippi Medical Center. The Wrights are members of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson.