Biglaw partner Francis G.X. Pileggi of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith alleges that he was assaulted by Delaware federal judge Gregory Williams 15 years ago. At the time of the alleged incident, Pileggi and Williams were both associates at Fox Rothschild and the fight happened over a political fundraiser.
The allegations come via a motion to have Williams recuse himself in an employment case Pileggi has in his courtroom. Well, to be fair, the latest is actually a motion for Williams to reconsider recusing himself. Williams previously denied the assault allegations and refused to recuse himself, saying there’s no evidence he “harbors any animus or bias against the Delaware attorney moving for recusal, and no evidence or reason to support any claim that the judge has ever had any bias against” Pileggi’s client.
So what does Pileggi allege happened during that ill-fated fundraiser? As described by Bloomberg Law:
According to Pileggi, Williams was “enraged” that he wasn’t named as a host of a political fundraiser on the invitation, and blamed Pileggi. Pileggi served on the campaign’s finance committee.
Williams “exploded with rage, and stormed into my office, without knocking, closing the door behind him, walked behind my desk, and thrust both of his hands against my chest, making me stumble backwards,” Pileggi claimed in a court filing. He said his desk chair and some personal items in the windowsill were knocked over.
The two left his office to continue the discussion away from others, during which Williams “again criminally assaulted me” and was “repeatedly challenging me to a fight,” Pileggi said. Pileggi alleged he walked away and that Williams was ultimately restrained by another attorney.
Williams previously recused himself from another Pileggi case “out of an abundance of caution and respect for the public’s confidence in the impartiality of this Court.” In that case, Williams denied there was a physical fight between the two, and said, “The judge put the incident behind him years ago and has no personal animus or bias against Mr. Pileggi or his client.”
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
