Mr John Siffert

John S. Siffert, FCIArb, is a partner at Lankler Siffert & Wohl LLP, where he has an active ADR practice, in addition to his work in civil commercial litigation and white-collar criminal & government regulatory defense.
He is an Adjunct Professor at NYU School of Law and co-author of Sand Modern Federal Jury Instructions (Civil and Criminal), in addition to numerous articles.
For 10 years, he has been the court-appointed Special Master and Mediator in Gulino v. Board of Education (SDNY), tasked with making findings and recommendations respecting backpay and pension damages for 5300 Black and Hispanic, New York City Board of Education teachers.
Mr. Siffert is a CIArb and AAA accredited arbitrator and mediator. He is on CPR’s Roster of Neutrals as well as the Pro Bono Mediation Panels for the Second Circuit and Southern District of New York and previously served as a Special Master of the First Department, Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court.
In 2023, Chief Justice Roberts appointed Mr. Siffert to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules and previously had appointed him to the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules for two successive terms, from 2012-2018. Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston reappointed Mr. Siffert to the Committee on Admissions and Grievances, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, for a term to expire on March 1, 2026.
Mr. Siffert is a Fellow and past Regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is the immediate past chair of the ACTL Mentoring Committee and previously served as Trustee of the ACTL Foundation. He serves on the Emeritus Board of the Practising Law Institute and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. He is on the Executive Committee of the Federal Bar Council Inn of Court and Vice Chair of Projects & Initiatives on the Board of the Historical Society of the New York Courts.
He received the 2024 Norman Ostrow Award from the New York Council of Defense Lawyers, the 2024 Leon Silverman Award from the Downstate NY Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the 2018 George A. Katz Torch of Learning Award from the American Friends of the Hebrew University. In 2017, he was recognized with the Albert Nelson Marquis Who's Who Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014, he received the Healing & Hope Award from the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. He was the recipient of the 2009 Second Circuit American Inns of Court Professionalism Award.
He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the civil and criminal divisions of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the SDNY and served as law clerk to Hon. Murray I. Gurfein. He graduated from Columbia Law School and Amherst College cum laude.