Common Cause New York Board Member John “Sean” Coffey Nominated for General Counsel of the Department of the Navy

John P. (“Sean”) Coffey, a board member at Common Cause New York, was nominated by President Biden to be the General Counsel of the Department of the Navy.

Coffey is a retired Navy captain and former federal prosecutor who currently serves as the Chair of Complex Litigation at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in New York City.  He is an honors graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Georgetown University Law Center, and previously served as personal military assistant to Vice President George H.W. Bush.  Coffey has over three decades of active, high-profile trial experience, including serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and, in private practice, as co-lead trial counsel in the landmark WorldCom securities case.  While practicing law in New York, Coffey continued to serve for eighteen years in the Navy Reserve, where he commanded a reserve P-3C squadron and the reserve component of the Enterprise carrier battle group staff, and served as a staff officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He retired at the rank of Captain in 2004 after thirty years of uniformed service.

He is currently the president of the Federal Bar Foundation, a not-for-profit that supports law-related programs located in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He also serves on the boards of the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center, Common Cause New York, and ThanksUSA, a not-for-profit that provides scholarships for military dependents.  Coffey is also a member of the board of visitors at Georgetown Law, where he has taught trial practice as an adjunct professor.

Statement of Karen Hobert Flynn, President of Common Cause

“Sean has been an integral part of our Common Cause New York team for more than a decade. We are delighted he has been nominated by President Biden, and we look forward to his confirmation. Although we will miss him, we know Sean will continue to serve the public with great dedication in his new role.”

Statement of Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause New York

“Common Cause New York congratulates our board member Sean Coffey on his nomination by President Biden to be General Counsel to the Department of the Navy. Sean has been a key member of our board for ten years and we will miss him greatly. We know he will serve with distinction, and we will all benefit from his public service once he is confirmed.”