Eric A. Seiff

Prior to joining Amini LLC, Eric was of counsel to Storch Amini PC starting in 2015. Prior to joining Storch Amini, Eric was a co-founder of the law firm Scoppetta Seiff Kretz & Abercrombie.

Eric A. Seiff is of counsel to Amini LLC. Initially trained as an appellate prosecutor under the leadership of New York County District Attorney Frank S. Hogan, Eric has briefed and argued more than one hundred appeals in the state and federal courts and has obtained complete jury acquittals in eight of his last nine criminal trials. His extensive career also includes litigation in Family Court, Surrogate’s Court and Landlord-Tenant Court.

Eric takes special pride in protecting his publicly known clients from being identified in the media when subject to prosecutorial investigation. Over the years, he has represented a number of well-known public figures from the private sector, including elected district attorneys, a former police commissioner, state and federal legislators, New York City commissioners and sitting judges, all of whose cases were opened and ultimately closed without media scrutiny. He has frequently represented lawyers, accountants, physicians and sitting judges charged with wrongful conduct by disciplinary committees.

One of the most notable decisions in Eric’s career was related to his representation of Korey Wise, the wrongfully convicted 16-year-old in the Central Park jogger prosecution. After spending 13-years in state prison, Wise’s conviction was reversed and the indictment dismissed. For recent discussion in the New York Law Journal, click here. Eric also represented two witnesses in the unsuccessful prosecution of Michael Kennedy Smith, as well as Sidney Biddle Barrows (the Mayflower Madame).

Over the years, Eric has built a strong matrimonial practice, representing women, men and children suffering the emotional and financial distress of family dissolution. While encouraging mediation and non-confrontational resolution of a failing marriage, Eric has extensive experience in litigating when necessary, working with financial experts, mental health practitioners and professionals with expertise in children’s issues. His work includes negotiating and drafting separation agreements, pre-nuptial agreements and mid-nuptial agreements.

Eric’s career includes service as a Special New York State Assistant Attorney General, on a small task force that exposed prosecutorial and state police dereliction in their investigation of the Attica uprising. He also chaired the bi-partisan New York State Commission of Investigation which led to the indictment and conviction of a state political party chairman, and the savings of incalculable sums of wasted tax payer funds in the purchase of public property insurance policies.

For many years, Eric has participated with the faculty of Cardozo Law School training students in trial strategy and tactics, and with the faculty of Fordham Law School, training attorneys employed by the New York City Law Department.

For more than forty years, Eric has been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell with its highest AV rating, as well as a number of independent rating bodies such as Super Lawyers, Marquis Who’s Who, and Strathmore’s Who’s Who. He is licensed to practice law in New York.

Eric 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.

Recognition
For more than thirty-five years, Eric has been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell with its highest AV rating, as well as a number of independent rating bodies such as Super Lawyers 2006-2010, 2012-2023, Marquis Who’s Who, and Strathmore’s Who’s Who. A founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, Eric was recently reappointed for his 14th 3-year term by the seven judges of the New York State Court of Appeals. He is presently Chairman of the Fund.

Professional Memberships
Eric is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, chaired the Committee on the Legal Problems of the Homeless, Project on the Homeless Committee, chaired the New York Criminal Bar Association, and served on the Board of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He also has been a long-time member of the Boards of Directors of the Prisoners’ Legal Services and the Fortune Society.

Professional History
Prior to joining the firm, Eric was a co-founder of the law firm Scoppetta Seiff Kretz & Abercrombie.