Fani Willis biography: 20 things about Inglewood, California native

Who is Fani Willis?

Fani Taifa Willis is an American attorney born in Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, United States. Her father John Clifford Floyd III was a criminal defense attorney and a member of the Black Panther Party, a black power organization founded in 1966 and dissolved in 1982.

When Willis was in the first grade, she and her family moved from California to Washington, D.C., USA. After her parents divorced, she stayed with her father in Washington, D.C. while her mother moved back to California.

Before becoming the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, USA, Willis represented clients in civil, domestic, juvenile, family law and criminal cases. She is a Democrat.

Amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Willis hired Nathan Wade to lead an investigation involving Donald Trump. On November 1, 2021, Wade’s contract started and on November 2, 2021, he filed for divorce from Joycelyn Wade in the superior court of Cobb County.

In August 2023, a grand jury in Atlanta, Fulton County indicted Trump and 18 others. They were accused of participating in a scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump’s 2020 U.S. presidential election loss to Joe Biden in Georgia. 

Willis and his former husband Fred Willis have two daughters together. Here are 20 more things about her:

1. From 1985 to 1989, she went to Regina High School in Hyattsville, Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA.
2. From 1989 to 1993, she attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
3. From 1993 to 1996, she attended the Emory University School of Law in v where she earned her Juris Doctor.
4. From June 1996 to June 1997, she was a contract attorney at The Kendall Law Firm in East Point, Fulton County.
5. In November 1996, she married Fred.
6. From June 1997 to May 2000, she represented clients in family law cases in Atlanta.
7. From February 2000 to October 2001, she was Atlanta’s assistant solicitor.
8. From October 2001 to December 2010, she was an executive assistant to Fulton County district attorney Paul Howard Jr.
9. In 2005, she and Fred divorced.
10. From September 29, 2014 to April 1, 2015, she was the lead prosecutor of the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial.
11. In January 2016, she joined We All Deserve Excellence (WAVE) as a volunteer.
12. In 2018, she went into private practice, ran for a seat on the Fulton County Superior Court and lost.
13. From 2019 to 2020, she was chief municipal judge for South Fulton, Fulton County.
14. On August 11, 2020, she was elected district attorney for Fulton County, defeating Howard and on January 1, 2021, she assumed office.
15. On February 10, 2021, she launched a criminal investigation into Trump’s attempts to influence Georgia election officials.
16. On May 9, 2022, her office indicted “Young Thug” Jeffery Lamar Williams for 56 counts of gang-related crimes.
17. On August 14, 2023, she announced that Trump and 18 other defendants have until August 25, 2023 to voluntarily surrender in Georgia.
18. On January 19, 2024, Joycelyn’s attorney Andrea Dyer Hastings filed a motion accusing her of having a romantic relationship with Nathan and she filed a motion seeking to quash Joycelyn’s subpoena against her and accusing Joycelyn of harassing her.
19. On October 27, 2024, she turned 54.
20. On December 19, 2024, a state appeals court removed her from the Georgia election interference case against Trump and others.