About William E. Cannon
William E. Cannon Jr. began his legal path after completing a history degree at Emory University in 1970 and earning his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1974. He entered practice in the mid-1970s and built a career that spans private practice, bar leadership and courtroom work at multiple levels of the federal system.
His early roles included an associate position at Landau & Davis, P.C., beginning in 1977. Four years later he became a partner at Black, Black & Cannon. In 1985 he took on the role of managing partner at Cannon & Meyer von Bremen. He moved to Brown, Ward & Haynes, P.A. as a shareholder in 2004. In 2011 he became president of Cannon Law, P.C., the firm listed as his current office.
Cannon has maintained admissions that allow him to work across jurisdictions. He is admitted in Georgia and North Carolina and appears on rosters for the Cherokee Tribal Court. He also holds admissions to several federal appellate courts, including the 4th Circuit, the 11th Circuit and the Federal Circuit, and he is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bar service and professional associations have been central to Cannon’s public work. He served as president of the State Bar of Georgia in 1998–1999. He has also held leadership roles in the Federal Bar Association’s Middle Georgia chapter, where he is listed as a past president. In North Carolina he has served on the Board of Governors of the state bar since 2011 and chaired the Professionalism Committee from 2010 to 2011. He is a member of the American Bar Association and of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. Since 2011 he has served as secretary of the Harry C. Martin American Inn of Court.
Throughout his career he has shifted between courtroom litigation and appellate work, handling matters that require practice in both state and federal forums. His experience includes managing firm operations and guiding litigation strategy across different practice settings. Colleagues describe him as steady and pragmatic in court and in firm leadership.
He currently practices from Cannon Law, P.C., where his work concentrates on civil litigation and appellate matters.
