John Siegal
John Siegal is an accomplished trial and courtroom advocate in the state and federal courts of New York and in courts and arbitration tribunals across the country. He handles private business disputes and transactions in the financial services, media and real estate industries, as well as matters for business clients involving public agencies and controversies.
Mr. Siegal is Baker Hostetler’s New York Litigation Coordinator with practice management responsibility for the more than 40 litigating attorneys in the firm’s New York City office. His current personal engagements include defense of trade secrets claims for a Wall Street investment bank, contract and business tort litigation for a major record label, numerous representations of the owner-operator of a New York City housing company and representation of the liquidating trustee of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.
In the financial services and investment industries, Mr. Siegal has handled a wide variety of fraud, partnership, trade secrets, securities and employment-related matters for investment banks, private equity firms, entrepreneurs, investors and executives.
In the real estate arena, Mr. Siegal often represents owners, managers, developers, investors and construction firms, handling partnership disputes, litigations over complex financing, leasing and development arrangements and construction, vendor, lender and leasing disputes. He has been involved in large scale public development projects and major government franchises, concessions and contracts, including having litigated over approvals for two New York City stadium projects.
Since the beginning of his legal career, Mr. Siegal has represented media companies, handling libel, slander, privacy, constitutional and related claims, as well as business, employment-related and trade secrets matters.
Mr. Siegal serves as co-head of Baker Hostetler’s National Noncompete and Trade Secrets Practice Group. He chaired the Practicing Law Institute’s program on “Protecting Corporate Intellectual Assets: Enforcing Restrictive Covenants in the Employment Context” and he is often involved in executive employment matters, negotiating employment and severance agreements for executives, advising companies on executive employment issues and litigating issues regarding faithless employees and fiduciary duty claims.
Mr. Siegal began his career as a Capitol Hill aide to Congressman (now Senator) Charles E. Schumer. In the early 1990s, he served as a City Hall Assistant and Chief Speechwriter to Mayor David N. Dinkins. Since then, he has served as an adviser and counsel to numerous candidates for citywide and statewide political office. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Fund for Modern Courts, the Center for an Urban Future and and a New York City neighborhood property owners association. Mr. Siegal frequently publishes on legal issues in the New York Law Journal, the National Law Journal and other publications.