Sean Coffey
Mediator / Arbitrator / Independent Panelist
Sean Coffey, a Phillips ADR neutral, served as the 24th General Counsel of the Navy (2022–2025), leading over 1,100 attorneys worldwide. Previously a renowned trial lawyer, he handled plaintiff and defense cases in securities, class actions, and complex litigation. At Latham & Watkins, he secured a directed verdict in a bet-the-company case. At Bernstein Litowitz, he led the $6.2 billion WorldCom Securities Litigation recovery. As Chair of Complex Litigation at Kramer Levin, he advised corporate clients.
As Navy General Counsel, Sean founded the Taxpayer Advocacy Project and led the exoneration of 256 African American Sailors from the 1944 Port Chicago courts-martial, earning the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award (2025). A U.S. Naval Academy graduate (1978), he served as a P-3C Orion mission commander and aide to Vice President George Bush, retiring as a Navy Reserve Captain in 2004. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law (1987) and was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.
Recognized with awards like the Federal Bar Council’s Whitney North Seymour Award, Sean serves on various boards and established scholarships for veterans. He is admitted in New York and New Jersey and holds a Top Secret/SCI clearance.
- Business Law
- Arbitration & Mediation
- Business - Arbitration/Mediation, Consumer - Arbitration/Mediation, Family - Arbitration/Mediation
- New Jersey
- New Jersey Courts
- ID Number: 038491998
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- New York
- New York State Office of Court Administration
- ID Number: 2173409
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- English: Spoken, Written
- Georgetown University Law Center
- J.D. (1987)
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- Honors: Graduated Magna Cum Laude Selected to Order of the Coif Awarded Charles A. Keigwin ward for Highest Grades by a First Year Evening Student Articles Editor, Georgetown Law Journal
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- United States Naval Academy
- B.S. (1978) | Ocean Engineering
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- Honors: Graduated with Merit
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