Jonathan David Schiller (born September 25, 1946) is an American lawyer who is a co-founder and managing partner of the law firm

Boies Schiller Flexner LLP Boies Schiller Flexner LLP is an American law firm based in New York City. The firm was founded in 1997 by David Boies and Jonathan D. Schiller, who were joined in 1999 by Donald L. Flexner, a former partner with Crowell & Moring. The firm has ...

. He also chaired the Board of Trustees of Columbia University from 2013 to 2018.

Biography

Schiller was born to Irving and

Patricia Schiller Patricia Schiller (October 27, 1913 - June 29, 2018) was an American lawyer, clinical psychologist and sex educator. She was a professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC for 30 ...

, both of whom were lawyers who moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

during the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

. His father worked for the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

and his mother worked at the U.S. Office of Price Administration, as well as the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...

, before joining the faculty at

Howard University College of Medicine The Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM) is an academic division of Howard University that grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Ph.D., M.S., and the M.PH. HUCM is located at the Howard University Health Sciences Center in Washington, D ...

and becoming a nationally recognized sex and marriage therapist. Schiller graduated from

Landon School Landon School is a private, college preparatory school for boys in grades 3–12, with an enrollment of approximately 710 students, in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Background Paul Landon Banfield and his wife, Mary Lee, ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

in 1965. He is a 1969 graduate of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he was a star basketball player and a member of the 1967-68

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

men's basketball championship team with future NBA players

Jim McMillian James M. McMillian (March 11, 1948 – May 16, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. After starring at Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, McMillian played college basketball for the Columbia Lions. He led Columbia to a t ...

and

Dave Newmark David L. Newmark (born September 11, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Newmark is Jewish, and graduated from Lincoln High School in New York City. He was a high school All-America ...

. The team ranked fifth in the country. After college, he briefly taught at

Georgetown Day School Georgetown Day School (GDS) is an independent coeducational PK-12 school located in Washington, D.C. The school educates 1,075 elementary, middle, and high school students in northwestern Washington, D.C. Russell Shaw is the current Head of Sch ...

, before going on to earn his J.D. from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1973. After graduating from Columbia, Schiller joined

Arnold & Porter Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, doing business as Arnold & Porter, is an American multinational law firm. It is a white-shoe firm and among the largest law firms in the world, both by revenue and by number of lawyers. Arnold & Porter was f ...

as an associate before moving to Rogovin, Stern & Huge, spending 17 year in the firm that was renamed Rogovin, Huge, and Schiller. In 1986, his client,

Westinghouse Electric Company Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is an American nuclear power company formed in 1999 from the nuclear power division of the original Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It offers nuclear products and services to utilities internationally, includ ...

, decided to assign a civil corruption case alleging bribery of

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

, former

president of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

, to

David Boies David Boies ( ; born March 11, 1941) is an American lawyer and chairman of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Boies rose to national prominence for three major cases: leading the U.S. federal government's succes ...

Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath; ) is an American white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm has additional offices in London and Washington, D.C. History In 1854, former college classmates William H. Seward (la ...

instead of Schiller's litigation boutique. Previously, Schiller had successfully defended Westinghouse on two occasions, so he was invited by Boies to team up on behalf of the company. The two formed a close friendship, and in 1997, founded the law firm

. In 2009, he was named a trustee of

, and in 2013, co-chair of the trustees, serving alongside William Campbell. He was made sole chair of the board from 2015 to 2018.

Awards and honors

Schiller received the

John Jay Award The John Jay Award is presented annually by Columbia College of Columbia University to its alumni for distinguished professional achievement. It is named for Founding Father of the United States John Jay, Columbia College Class of 1764. The first ...

in 2006 from Columbia College and the

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

Medal in 2012. In 2017, Schiller was named to the inaugural class of "Legends of Ivy Basketball" for achievements and contributions to the

's basketball program. In 2020, Columbia dedicated the basketball court in

Levien Gymnasium Francis S. Levien Gymnasium is a 2,700-seat arena at Columbia University in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. Named for New York lawyer-industrialist Francis S. Levien (1905–95), it is home to the Columbia Men's and Women's Bask ...

in his honor.

Personal life and family

Schiller's first wife was Margaret Irwin Miller, daughter of

J. Irwin Miller Joseph Irwin Miller (May 26, 1909 – August 16, 2004) was an American industrialist, patron of modern architecture, and lay leader in the Christian ecumenical movement and civil rights. He was instrumental in the rise of the Cummins Corporat ...

and granddaughter of Hugh Thomas Miller. They had three sons, Zachary Sweeney 'Zack' Schiller, Joshua Irwin 'Josh' Schiller, and Aaron Irwin Schiller, all of whom are alumni of Columbia University (graduates of either Columbia College or

). Zack is a film producer whose production credits included the ''Escape Plan'' series, ''Midnight Sun'', ''The Babysitter'', and ''Countdown''; In 2012,

and Zack Schiller co-founded ''Boies/Schiller Film Group'' later ''Boies Schiller Entertainment''. Josh is a partner at his father's firm, and is married to Melissa Siebel Schiller, sister of

Jennifer Siebel Newsom Jennifer Lynn Siebel Newsom (née Siebel; born June 19, 1974) is an American documentary filmmaker and actress who is the First Partner of California, first partner of California, as the wife of Governor of California, Governor Gavin Newsom. Sh ...

, the wife of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

. Aaron is an architect. He is currently married to Marla Prather, an art collector and former

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

curator who is the ex-wife of

Mortimer Zuckerman Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman (born June 4, 1937) is a Canadian-American billionaire media proprietor, magazine editor, and investor. He is the co-founder, executive chairman and former CEO of Boston Properties, one of the largest real estate inve ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiller, Jonathan D. Living people Columbia Law School alumni Arnold & Porter people Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Columbia Lions men's basketball players Boies Schiller Flexner people Year of birth missing (living people)