Williams

PROVIDENCE — On his last day as the head of the state judiciary, Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams yesterday spent two hours in mediation with lawyers for the City of Providence and the municipal unions over whether the self-insured city can go ahead with switching its health-benefits administrators tomorrow.

It was one of several complex cases Williams was taking up on his final day as chief — but it won’t be the last. Court spokesman Craig Berke said Williams will continue to sit on the bench as a retired judge and will continue working on the cases he has pending.

“Any time you make a [reference] to retirement, he keeps saying he’s not going anywhere,” Berke said. Already, a small office on the seventh floor of the Licht Judicial Complex was being cleaned and painted in anticipation of Williams’ move. He has company: retired Chief Justice Joseph R. Weisberger also has a small office there.

Williams abruptly announced his retirement three weeks ago, after serving nearly eight years as the chief justice, which included running a state judiciary with more than 700 employees and a $97-million budget.

If he had waited two more years, he would have qualified for a lifetime pension equal to 100 percent of his $184,408.38 salary, instead of 75 percent, $138,306. In an interview with The Journal after his first year in the position, Williams had said he intended to stay for 10 years.

Berke said Williams had accomplished what he had intended — construction of two new courthouses, replacing an antiquated computer system, increasing the judiciary’s budget and raising awareness and interest in the judicial process.

Williams still has pending cases that require opinions; even as chief judge, Williams typically wrote about 25 opinions per year, about the same as each of the associate justices.

Under state statute, judges who retire with a 100 percent pension are subject to being recalled to work. Although Williams is retiring after being vested at 75 percent, just two years shy of the full pension, he is choosing to remain “on call” for work. If he is called in, Williams will receive a per diem payment, which is his pay difference between the 75 percent and the full vested amount, Berke said.

He was still the chief justice when he signed an order yesterday sending the City of Providence and its labor unions into binding arbitration. At the end of this week, when he picks an arbitrator for the case, it’ll be as retired chief judge.

amilkovi@projo.com