Siffert, John S.

Born in 1947, Mr. Siffert was graduated from Amherst College cum laude and Columbia Law School, where he was Articles Editor of the Journal of Law and Social Problems. From 1972 to 1974, Mr. Siffert was law clerk to the Hon. Murray I. Gurfein, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. For the next five years, Mr. Siffert was an Assistant United States Attorney in the civil and criminal divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. After leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Siffert was a partner and co-head of the New York litigation department of a national firm. In 1983, Messrs. Lankler and Siffert formed their own firm, and they joined with Mr. Wohl to form Lankler Siffert & Wohl in 1984.

Mr. Siffert is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and served on the Board of Regents from 2006 through 2010. He previously had served as Chair of the New York Downstate Committee (2004-2006) and Chair of the Admission to Fellowship Committee (2001-2004).  Mr. Siffert also served on the Executive Committee (2006-2010) of the New York City Bar Association and before that as Chair of the Federal Legislation Committee (2003-2006). Mr. Siffert also was President of the Federal Bar Council’s Inn of Court (2001-2002), and currently serves on its Executive Committee.  Mr. Siffert is on the Board of the Historical Society of the Courts of New York (2009-), the Practising Law Institute (2010-), and the Greater New York Chapter of the American Friends of the Hebrew University (2010-). He served as Vice Chair of the Membership Committee of the Supreme Court Historical Society and was on the Board of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers from 2004 through 2007. Mr. Siffert is a Special Master for the First Department, Appellate Division, and a mediator for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was a member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division, First Department (2005-2010).

Mr. Siffert has been a Board member of the New York Lawyers for Public Interest since 1998 and was Chair of the Board (2006-2008). He currently serves as a member of the Board of Advisors to the New York Civil Rights Coalition (1995-). Mr. Siffert was a member of the Indigent Defense Organization Oversight Committee, Appellate Division, First Department (2003-2004). Mr. Siffert was a member of the Board of Directors of New York City Off-Track Betting (1996-2004). He was the court-appointed Escrow Agent for the Solomon Insider Trading and Investment Advisory Disgorgement Funds, and the SEC approved Independent Counsel for MBIA. He served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Procurement Policy Board for the City of New York.

Mr. Siffert has been on the adjunct faculty of New York University Law School since 1979 and has held the position of Adjunct Professor since 1989. He also has taught advocacy courses on the NITA faculty and at the Harvard Law School, Hofstra Law School, Cardozo Law School and Columbia Business School. Mr. Siffert has co-authored multi-volume treatises entitled Business Crime (Matthew Bender 1981), Modern Federal Jury Instructions – Civil and Criminal (Matthew Bender). In addition, Mr. Siffert has authored or co-authored numerous articles, including “The Role of Separate Counsel for Corporate Employees in Criminal Antitrust Investigations,” “The Fifth Amendment and Tax Returns: The Viability of the Deferred Filing/Current Payment of Tax Approach Pending A Criminal Investigation,” Conflicts and Multiple Representation in Pre-Indictment Business Crime Cases,” “Trading on Inside Information,” “Recklessness and Gross Negligence as Requisite Mental Elements in Criminal and Civil Cases,” “Simplify Jury Instructions in Patent Cases,” and “The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons: Foreign Nationals Serving Prison Sentences in Their Home Countries.”

Mr. Siffert routinely appears in the Legal Media Group’s Guide to World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers/White Collar Lawyers, Chambers USA: Leading Lawyers for Business, Best Lawyers in America, The Legal 500, Super Lawyers and other similar publications. Since 2006, Mr. Siffert has been named by Super Lawyers as one of the top 100 lawyers in New York City. In 2008, Mr. Siffert was named as one of the top 10 lawyers in New York City.

In 2009, Mr. Siffert received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Second Circuit.