Charity Williams

Charity R. Williams brings a wealth of business acumen to her legal practice, specializing in representing both public and privately held life sciences companies in complex licensing and corporate partnering transactions. With a focus on strategic collaborations, license agreements, territory-specific licenses, and co-development, co-promotion and profit-sharing relationships, Charity offers a unique blend of legal expertise and business insight and is recognized for her comprehensive advisory role. Her expertise extends to handling options to purchase and earn-out structures in the context of mergers and acquisition and she also offers guidance on day-to-day matters encompassing licensing, supply, distribution, clinical trials, and vendor services.

Having served as a dedicated member of the board of directors of Athena for six years, concluding her term in December 2023, Charity is deeply committed to leadership development for women in the life sciences, healthcare, defense, technology, and related business communities. Her contributions have been recognized through prestigious accolades such as the San Diego Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business and Leaders in Law.

Prior to rejoining Cooley, Charity navigated the entrepreneurial path, running her own practice where she successfully represented life science and technology companies in corporate and intellectual property litigation matters. Her extensive experience also includes serving as the chief business officer and in-house counsel for Catheter Connections, a medical device developer based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Notably, Charity's diverse background extends to leadership positions in the medical device industry, having served as the interim CEO of Veritract, a startup medical device company, and the director of marketing for ZEVEX (Moog Medical Devices Group). She also made significant contributions as a senior associate at the University Venture Fund, executing life science venture capital and growth equity investments. She also led her team to victory, securing the Life Sciences Grand Prize at the Carnegie Mellon McGinnis Venture Competition while serving as an associate at the Lassonde New Venture Development Center.

Recognized for her achievements, Charity is a recipient of an In-Awe Award from the Medical Marketing Association. During her academic journey at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, she earned prestigious distinctions, including election to the Order of the Coif and membership in the Utah Law Review.

Publications

• Misperceptions Matter: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Protects Employees from Discrimination Based on Misperceived Religious Status, 2008 UTAH L. REV. 357