Christian Siebott
Christian Siebott is a 1998 graduate of the City University of New York School of Law, where he was a Belle Zeller Scholar. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1989 from Pennsylvania State University and, in 1993, a master’s degree in public policy from Syracuse University. Mr. Siebott also served in the United States Air Force.
Following law school, Mr. Siebott clerked in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and has served as an adjunct professor of law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
Before joining the Firm in 2006, Mr. Siebott was associated with a prominent Manhattan plaintiffs’ class action firm. He concentrates his practice in complex and class action litigation, including securities, antitrust, commerical, qui tam/whistleblower, civil RICO, and consumer protection litigation. Recently, on behalf of a class of tenants from New York City’s largest residential apartment complex, Mr. Siebott obtained a landmark ruling from New York’s highest court, overturning a state regulation and holding that the plaintiffs’ landlords were not permitted to deregulate rent stabilized apartments while simultaneously receiving certain New York City tax benefits; the decision is reported in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties, L.P., 13 N.Y.3d 270 (2009). He has worked on several noteworthy cases, including one of the largest securities class actions ever litigated, In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation, No. 21 MC 92 (S.D.N.Y.), which settled for $586 million. He currently represents the Republic of Iraq in a litigation related to the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food Programme. In addition, he represents the plaintiff, Geauga County, Ohio, in State of Ohio ex rel. Joyce v. MERSCORP, Inc., No. 11-M-001087 (Geauga Co., C.P.), in a class action brought on behalf of all Ohio counties, and the plaintiff, Cleveland County, Oklahoma, in Board of County Commissioners of the County of Cleveland, Oklahoma v. MERSCORP, Inc., No. CJ-2011-1727 (Cleveland Co. Dist. Ct.), in a class action brought on behalf of all Oklahoma counties. Both actions allege violations of state law arising from the failure of defendants, an electronic mortgage registration system and its members, to record intermediate mortgage assignments and pay county recording fees. Mr. Siebott is also working on 35-41 Clarkson LLC v. New York City Housing Authority, 11-CIV-6770 (S.D.N.Y.), in which the Firm represents a class of landlords denied due process rights to address the New York City Housing Authority’s failure to pay mandated rent increases and failure to reimburse rents owed retroactively pursuant to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s regulations; the action seeks both damages and equitable relief on behalf of the putative class.
Mr. Siebott heads the Firm’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group. He has had significant appellate experience in federal courts of appeals and the United States Supreme Court, and authored and edited portions of the New York City Bar Association’s Appeals to the Second Circuit. Mr. Siebott is committed to pro bono practice; he represents veterans in disability and pension benefit proceedings and has represented the families of uniformed rescuers before the 9/11 Victims Compensation Board.
Recently, Mr. Siebott became a member of the Editorial Board of Securities Litigation Report, a publication that analyzes the latest developments in private actions and government enforcement, focusing on, among other things, corporate governance, risk management, and professional responsibility. In addition, Mr. Siebott is frequently published on topics relating to securities matters, including “The Supreme Court Grapples with the Concerns of Pharmaceutical Companies & Their Investors at Oral Argument in Matrixx,” Securities Litigation Report (with Associate Gabriel G. Galletti), February 2011, and “Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Matrixx, Concerning Materiality & Adverse Events,” Securities Litigation Report (with Associate Gabriel G. Galletti), July/August 2010. He also participated in a continuing legal education program entitled Developments in Class Action Law 2010, hosted by West LegalEdcenter®.
Mr. Siebott is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Federal, Second, Third, Fourth and Eleventh Circuits, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He is active in the New York City Bar Association and the Federal Bar Council.
