Fairness · Dignity · Accountability
Get To Know Max
Louisville is Home
"I was born and raised in Louisville, and this community has shaped nearly every part of my life. I grew up on a small horse farm, on the south side of town. Growing up, my father taught me the value of hard work while we worked on cars together at his body shop and my mother taught me the value of a good education through her teaching. Together, they taught me dedication, respect, kindness, and duty. Whether its turning wrenches on the weekends, or helping my mother take care of the family farm, I will always show up and give everything for the people who matter the most to me.
I've built my life here in Louisville, my legal career here, and my family here. Louisville is not an abstraction to me. It is home. Each day, I drive all over the city to experience the wonders it has to offer and Louisville rarely disappoints. Each town is unique and I've got a story for each one. But the most important experience is the people I meet each day. They are neighbors, families, teachers, workers, business owners and they are the victims, defendants, attorneys and public servants I see every day at the Jefferson County Attorneys' Office. Living and working throughout this community has taught me that the people who enter a courtroom are more than just labels or case numbers. Every person has a story, and every case has its own facts and circumstances.
I believe a judge should understand the community the court serves while never losing sight of the obligation to follow the law, protect constitutional rights, and treat every person who enters the courtroom with dignity."
A Path in Public Service
My path to the law began with an interest in understanding how things work — whether the subject was government, technology, economics or people.
At duPont Manual High School, I attended the Math, Science and Technology program and focused on engineering and computer programming. I later attended the University of Kentucky, where I earned bachelor’s degrees in Political Science, Economics and History. I went on to earn my law degree from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville in 2018.
My involvement in public service began long before law school. As a teenager, I became involved with Planned Parenthood and sex-education programs in Louisville. At the University of Kentucky, that work continued through VOX and advocacy involving the ACLU and the Fairness Campaign.
College also gave me an opportunity to see government from very different perspectives. I worked in Lexington city government before moving to London, where I worked in the British House of Commons for Geoffrey Cox, then Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon, assisting with constituent and parliamentary work.
Those experiences exposed me to different communities, different political perspectives and very different institutions. They also reinforced something I have carried throughout my career: public service begins with listening to the people affected by the decisions government makes.
A Career in Law
My legal career has allowed me to see the justice system from several different perspectives.
During law school, my work included experience with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, private practice and the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. After law school, I practiced in areas including probate and corporate law before joining the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office.
For the past eight years, I have worked as a prosecutor in Jefferson County. My work has included thousands of cases and regular experience with criminal proceedings, probable-cause hearings, bond hearings, DUI and traffic cases, evidentiary and suppression issues, competency matters and courtroom litigation.
My career has also combined law with something that has interested me since high school: technology. I have designed software and processes intended to make parts of the justice system more efficient, accessible and manageable for the people who use it.
Today, I serve as an Assistant County Attorney and as Chief of Drive Safe Louisville.
Why am I running?
I am running for District Court Judge because Louisville is my home and my career has been spent working inside the justice system that serves this community.
My experience has convinced me that justice requires more than simply processing cases. Courts must protect constitutional rights, listen to victims, protect public safety, hold people accountable and, when the law permits, address the problems that bring people back into the justice system.
I believe accountability and rehabilitation are not opposites. Serious conduct can require serious consequences. At the same time, addressing addiction, mental health, instability and other underlying problems can sometimes prevent future offenses more effectively than simply waiting for someone to return to court again.
I also believe that a person's wealth, family, influence, background or status should not determine the justice they receive. Similar cases should be treated consistently, while legitimate differences in circumstances should be considered when the law permits them to be considered.
A judge cannot promise outcomes. A judge can promise to approach the work seriously: to know the law, listen carefully, protect constitutional rights, consider the people affected by the case and make each decision based on the facts and law before the court.
When in Doubt, Do Right
That phrase is the simplest way I know to describe the standard I try to bring to difficult decisions.
The law sets the boundaries. Constitutional rights are not optional. Victims deserve to be heard. Public safety matters. Accountability matters. So do dignity, rehabilitation and the individual circumstances of the people who appear before the court.
There will be cases in which no available outcome makes everyone happy. In those cases, I believe the responsibility of a judge is not to search for the most popular answer. It is to consider the law, the evidence, the rights of the parties and the consequences of the available options, and then make the decision the judge believes is fair and just.
To me, judicial independence means being willing to make that decision consistently — regardless of who the parties are, who their attorneys are, how much money they have, where they come from or how influential they may be.
A year of rebuilding
In August 2025, my family experienced a crisis that changed almost every part of our daily lives. A fire destroyed our Louisville home. My partner, Rainbow, suffered serious burns while escaping the house with our dogs. We spent the next two months living in hotels.
Rebuilding the house took nearly a year. During that time, I dealt with insurance, contractors, construction and the endless decisions that come with rebuilding a home. I ultimately took on much of the general contracting and reconstruction work myself.
For most of that year, campaigning simply was not the most important thing happening in my life. My priority was getting my family safely home again. That is why the public-facing part of this campaign began much later than I originally intended.
The experience also gave renewed meaning to something I had understood intellectually for years: stability can disappear very quickly. People can find themselves vulnerable through circumstances they never expected. Being treated with patience and dignity matters enormously when someone's life has suddenly become a crisis.
Eventually, we rebuilt. And we kept moving forward.
Beyond the Courtroom
My life has never revolved entirely around the law.
I became an Eagle Scout after spending roughly fifteen years in Scouting, an experience that helped shape my approach to responsibility, preparation and service. Music has also always been part of my life; I sing and play multiple instruments.
I try to stay connected to the city outside the courthouse as well. That has included helping people experiencing homelessness, participating in community activities and simply being present at the events and traditions that make Louisville feel like Louisville.
At home, I share my life with my partner, Rainbow Williams, a Jefferson County Public Schools teacher, and our dogs, Pymm and Dewar. After everything our family went through during the fire and rebuilding process, being home together has taken on a meaning that it did not have before.
Learn More About Me.
This site includes additional information about my legal experience and public service, my approach to the responsibilities of a District Court Judge, campaign events and photographs, and ways to connect with the campaign.
