Mark Williamson is a partner and chair of Alston & Bird's Wealth Planning Group. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and practices in the areas of estate planning and federal taxation.

He practiced with the Milwaukee law firm of Foley & Lardner before joining Alston & Bird and has been an adjunct professor of law at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, as well as Georgia State University. Mr. Williamson was on the faculties of the 1997 and 1999 Estate Planning Institutes in Athens, Georgia, and the 1997 and 2000 Fiduciary Law Institutes in St. Simons, Georgia. He received the Estates and Trusts Magazine 1997 "Best Young Author Award" for a series of articles he co-authored with Professor Jeffrey Pennell of Emory University, and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers magazine.

Mr. Williamson received his B.M., cum laude, in music from Louisiana State University in 1981 and his M.M. in music from the University of North Texas in 1983. He also studied at the doctorate level at Louisiana State University and the Catholic University of America. He received his J.D. in 1991 from the Florida State University College of Law, where he graduated with highest honors, was made a member of the Order of the Coif and served as executive editor of the Law Review.