Bio

Mr. Siffert is a founding partner of Lankler Siffert & Wohl LLP, where he has built a widely respected practice that encompasses every aspect of litigation. He has been described in Chambers as “a classic counselor who is also a superb trial lawyer.”

Mr. Siffert has successfully tried numerous civil and criminal trials to verdict, has prevailed as claimant and respondent in commercial disputes before arbitration panels, and has argued appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the New York Court of Appeals, and the Appellate Division, First and Second Departments, of the New York State Supreme Court. In addition, Mr. Siffert has helped clients avoid the cost and risks of courtroom battles by persuading governmental authorities not to bring charges and by devising consensual resolutions of business disputes.

Mr. Siffert’s areas of practice range from commercial, contract, and other civil disputes to regulatory and criminal matters involving a wide range of allegations, including securities fraud, antitrust violations, professional misconduct, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. Mr. Siffert’s clients have included corporations, boards of corporations, and individual directors and senior officers. He also has appeared on behalf of major law firms and individual lawyers, both in court and before the Disciplinary Committee of the First Department. In addition, he has been frequently called upon to advise audit committees and special committees that are conducting internal investigations and has been retained to mediate commercial disputes and to serve as a neutral arbitrator in commercial arbitrations.

In 2012, Mr. Siffert was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules. Mr. Siffert currently serves on the Attorney Panel of the Committee on Grievances for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and on that court’s mediation panel. Mr. Siffert is the court-appointed Special Master and Mediator in Gulino, et.al. v. The Board of Education, currently pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Previously, he was appointed by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to serve as the Discovery Master and then as the Mediator in Invista v. DuPont, and as the Escrow Agent for theSolomon Insider Trading and Investment Advisory Disgorgement Funds. He also served as the SEC-approved Independent Counsel for MBIA Inc. He also has served as a Special Master for the Appellate Division, First Department, of the New York State Supreme Court and served on its Departmental Disciplinary Committee.

Mr. Siffert is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, serves on its Foundation and previously served on the Board of Regents and as Chair of its New York Downstate Committee. He routinely appears in the Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers/White Collar Crime Lawyers, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Best Lawyers in America, Expert Guides’ Best of the Best USA White Collar Crime, The Legal 500, Super Lawyers, and a broad array of Who’s Who directories. In 2008, Mr. Siffert was ranked bySuper Lawyers as one of the top 10 lawyers in New York. In 2009, Mr. Siffert received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Second Circuit. In 2014, he received the Healing and Hope Award from the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth.

Mr. Siffert also has given generously of his time to numerous bar and community organizations. Currently, he serves on the board of the Practising Law Institute and its Executive Committee. He is the Chair of the Finance Committee of the Board of the Historical Society of the New York Courts and is also on the Emeritus Board of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, where he previously served as Chair. He is on the Executive Committee of the Federal Bar Council’s Inn of Court, was one of its founders and served as its President. He served on the Executive Committee and Co-Chaired the Robes in School Program for Just The Beginning - A Pipeline Organization's 2006 NYC meeting. He also served on the Executive Committee and has held various other positions at the New York City Bar Association. He served as President of the Greater New York Regional Board of American Friends of Hebrew University and has been active in other bar and civic organizations.

Mr. Siffert is co-author of Sand, Modern Federal Jury Instructions -Civil and Criminal (Lexis/Nexis) and co-authored Business Crime (Matthew Bender). He also published numerous chapters and articles on a variety of subjects. He is an Adjunct Professor at New York University School of Law and has taught on the NITA faculty and at the Harvard Law School, Hofstra Law School, Cardozo Law School, and Columbia Business School. Mr. Siffert has appeared as a faculty presenter on numerous PLI Programs involving white collar crime, trial strategy and trial advocacy.

Mr. Siffert served as 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, where he prosecuted U.S. v. Chiarella, the first-ever criminal insider trading case.

John S. Siffert

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