John S. Siffert is a founding partner of Lankler Siffert & Wohl. Mr. Siffert has been recognized in the legal media and by his peers as one of the top lawyers in his field. He is also recognized as a scholar, teacher, and mentor to generations of younger lawyers.
Mr. Siffert is a fellow and former regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been an Adjunct Professor at NYU School of Law since 1979. He co-authored Modern Federal Jury Instructions.
Judges of the federal and state courts have called upon Mr. Siffert for a variety of tasks. In 2012, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Mr. Siffert to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules. The Second Circuit tapped Mr. Siffert as an advisor to the Second Circuit Committee on Civic Education. The Southern District has assigned Mr. Siffert to the Attorney Panel of the Committee on Grievances and the SDNY Mediation Panel. Individual district judges have appointed him to serve as Special Master, Special Discovery Master, Escrow Agent, and Mediator in pending cases. The First Department previously appointed Mr. Siffert to be a Special Master to mediate its cases and to be a panel member on its Disciplinary Committee.
His commitment to the community includes service on the Northeast Regional Board of the American Friends of the Hebrew University, including as immediate Past-President. As Vice Chair of the Historical Society of the New York Courts and executive committee member of Just The Beginning–NYC 2016, he initiated teaching programs for inner city school children about the role of the courts. He also has helped expand free CLE to pro bono lawyers, while serving on PLI’s Executive Committee. As Chair of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, he oversaw initiatives in community lawyering. His work as a founder and former President of the Federal Bar Council’s Inn of Court is a testament to his commitment to mentoring.
Mr. Siffert received the Second Circuit 2009 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award. In 2014, he received the Healing and Hope Award from the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. This year he was awarded the Albert Nelson Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mr. Siffert was an Assistant United States Attorney in the SDNY, where he prosecuted U.S. v. Chiarella, the first-ever criminal insider trading case.
Mr. Siffert is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Amherst College.
Mr. Siffert has been married for 43 years to Dr. Goldie Alfasi-Siffert. They have two sons, David and Matthew.
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