Pete Williams

Peter Williams joined the Syracuse University College of Law as an adjunct professor in September 2019. He teaches the Capital Habeas Defense Practicum.

Williams is currently an Assistant Federal Defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Williams represents death-sentenced inmates in federal habeas corpus, state post-conviction, 28 USC §2255, and clemency proceedings. He also represents defendants charged with federal capital offenses at the trial level. Williams has been with the Capital Habeas Unit since 2009.

Before joining the Capital Habeas Unit, Williams practiced as a trial attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, which functions as the state public defender’s office for the City of Philadelphia. Williams represented indigent criminal defendants at all stages of misdemeanor, felony, and juvenile trial-level proceedings. During his time in the Defender Association, Williams also worked in the Major Trials Unit, which focused on the representation of clients charged with serious felonies, and the Juvenile Special Defense Unit, where he represented juvenile defendants who were charged as adults.