Judge William Walker obtained his Juris Doctorate from the University of Cincinnati Law School in 1973. He was Law Review Case Note Editor and a member of "Order of Coif" while at U.C. Law School. Judge Walker was admitted to practice in Ohio and in Federal District Court in 1973 and in 1986 was admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court.
First elected in 1986 to the Clermont County Common Pleas Court, Judge William Walker has served as Presiding and Administrative Judge for many of his years on the bench. During these years, he has been instrumental in establishing the intensive probation services, intensive sex offender supervision, non-support probation, pre-trial bond, and mental health programs within the Common Pleas Adult Probation Department. Judge Walker instituted the court-wide civil mediation program, which promotes early resolution of cases.
Aimed at securing child support payments from felony non-support offenders, Judge Walker worked closely within the partnership of the Common Pleas Court, the Adult Probation Department, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the Clermont County Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) to develop and implement the County’s non-support diversion program. It was through this cooperation that the County’s non-support diversion program has yielded outstanding success. In 2005 and 2007, Judge Walker served as a panelist at the Ohio CSEA Directors’ Association Conferences.
Judge Walker has been invited to participate at the National Judicial College as a group leader and presenter. He has prepared and presented materials in Ohio Supreme Court approved Continuing Legal Education seminars and classes for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), the Hamilton and Clermont County Bar Associations, the University of Cincinnati Law School, the National Business Institute, and the Inns of Court in the United States Federal Court on trial techniques, civil and appellate practice, ethics, workers’ compensation, and psychiatry and the law.
As senior judge of the Court, Judge Walker has served as a respected and esteemed member of the Clermont County Common Pleas Court bench for the past 23 years.