Eric A. Seiff

He began his career as a prosecutor and served as an attorney for the Agency for International Development’s Alliance for Progress, first in Washington, D.C. and then in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Upon Eric’s return to New York, and after holding several jobs in the state’s criminal system, he was selected by the Governor to chair the bipartisan State Investigation Commission, not affiliated with a political party. The Commission’s work ranged from the exposure (and later conviction) of a state political party chairman, to saving taxpayer dollars in purchasing of public property insurance policies. This work led to the reorganization of dozens of local and regional government agencies, increasing the efficiency of the public services system.

Eric’s long-standing advocacy for criminal justice reform began on a task force tackling police and prosecutorial misconduct during and after the 1971 Attica Prison uprising. The case led to the evolution of the prisoners’ rights movement and the initiation of state prison reforms in the ensuing decades. He has since forged an extensive career in criminal law, representing Sydney Biddle Barrows, known as the “Mayflower Madam,” in the 1980s; and representing two plaintiffs in the 1991 rape trial of William Kennedy Smith, nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He has also successfully represented well-known public figures, including district attorneys, a former police commissioner, state and federal legislators, New York City commissioners and sitting judges.

Eric has served as a board member of Prisoners’ Legal Services of NY since 1989. As a distinguished 18B attorney and member of a small oversight group, he worked to ensure that state-assigned clients who might otherwise lack legal representation had access to well-qualified counsel. In 2002, he helped exonerate Kharey Wise, 13 years after Wise and four other teenage boys were wrongfully imprisoned for the assault and rape of the Central Park Jogger. Most recently, he participated in pro bono litigation that led to the release of  Imhotep H’Shaka from over two decades of unlawful solitary confinement.

Eric leveraged his extensive public service background in the private sector, co-founding the Scoppetta, Seiff, Kretz & Abercrombie firm with his close friend Nick Scoppetta, a commissioner in the Lindsey, Beame, Giuliani and Bloomberg mayoral administrations. 

He currently chairs the NY Lawyers Fund for Client Protection, established by the State Legislature in 1981 as a reimbursement program for financial losses suffered by clients due to attorney dishonesty. The fund, solely financed by lawyers, has distributed $10 million in 2022 alone in funds wrongfully taken,  and over 250 million dollars since its inception. A founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, Eric was recently reappointed for his 14th term by the New York State Court of Appeals. Additionally, Eric has trained students and members of the New York City Department of Law in trial strategy and tactics, on law faculties including Fordham and Cardozo. 

For over forty years, Martindale-Hubbell has recognized Eric with its highest AV rating. He has been consistently recognized by Super Lawyers, Marquis Who’s Who, and Strathmore’s Who’s Who. He was included in the 25th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© for Criminal Defense: General Practice and Family Law. Additionally, Eric Seiff was designated the Best Lawyers® 2019 Criminal Defense: General Practice “Lawyer of the Year” award winner in New York City. Aside from his career as a lawyer, Eric is a competitive runner, and a former marathoner. In the past 15 years, he has won four national age-group road racing and cross country championships, most recently in October 2023. He is a member of the New York Road Runners  — the pre-eminent running organization in the U.S, and, outside of the Olympic Committee and the International Track and Field Association, the world.

Other notable positions held by Eric Seiff:

• Assistant District Attorney in New York County, 1962-1967
• Assistant Counsel to the Agency for International Development, 1967-1972
• General Counsel to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society of New York City, 1974-1975
• Special Assistant Attorney General in 1975, where he served on Governor Carey’s task force investigating the misconduct of the Attica prosecutors
• Member of the New York State Investigation Commission from 1975 to 1979, serving as Chairman from 1978-1979