Joshua Schiller, brother in law of California Governor Gavin Newsom, was arrested in Ross, Calif., on Jan. 14th 2021 on domestic violence and wife abuse charges – sad news, and according to Bloomberg News. Here’s the details on Josh Schiller and the unfortunate domestic violence claim.
Boies Schiller Flexner law firm partner Joshua Schiller, head of the firm’s San Francisco office, was arrested for alleged domestic violence according to a statement provided by the Ross Police Department.
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This is the second arrest of a close confident to Newsom. In December, police filed domestic violence charges against veteran Gavin Newsom political strategist Nathan Ballard, including allegations that he beat his wife and tried to suffocate his child with a pillow at a Napa resort. According to the Ross Police statement regarding Josh Schiller, they responded to a disturbance at Schiller’s residence around midnight on Thursday evening.
According to Bloomberg News: “The victim had visible injuries that were minor in nature and did not require immediate medical treatment,” the statement said. Schiller, son of Boies Schiller co-founder Jonathan Schiller, was arrested and booked at the Marin County Jail and the case was referred to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office. Schiller and his wife, Melissa Siebel Schiller, who is the sister-in-law of California Governor Gavin Newsom, provided a joint statement to Bloomberg Law through their lawyer Douglas Horngard.
“This is a private matter between us,” the couple said. “We love and respect each other. We are partners and will move beyond this together.”
The California-based Horngard said he expects the charges against Schiller, first reported by The American Lawyer, to be dropped.
“This was a misunderstanding,” Horngard said. “There was no instance of domestic violence.” Schiller joined the firm in 2008 and has since represented the likes of DraftKings and joined Boies Schiller co-founder and chairman David Boies and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher partner Ted Olson in the successful effort to overturn Proposition 8 in California, which had banned same-sex marriage in the state.
Following several Boies Schiller partner departures in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Schiller was selected to fill one of two new positions as co-administrative partners for California earlier this year.
The Boise Schiller firm has recently struggled with lawyer exits, losing nearly 60 partners in 2020. It has also faced difficulties with recruiting new attorneys to its ranks. Josh Schiller was the attorney in charge of the ill-fated attempt to prevent the Golden State Warriors from building the Chase Arena in San Francisco, advising UCSF former vice chancellor Bruce W.Spaulding and former S.F. Mayor Willie Brown on the losing effort.
Stay tuned.