Michael J. Siris (born September 11, 1945) is an American attorney best known for successfully representing the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

in 1992 to compel production of information on taxpayer-subsidized mailings.

Life and career

Son of a

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

, the late Dr. Joseph Siris and the late Muriel Siris, Siris was educated at

Great Neck North High School John L. Miller Great Neck North High School or simply "Great Neck North," is a public high school, including grades 9 through 12, in the village of Great Neck, New York, operated by the Great Neck School District. As of the 2018–19 school yea ...

(1963),

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

(B.A. 1967) and

New York University Law School New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in Ne ...

(J.D. 1970). Following a primary win, Siris was the Democratic nominee in 1992 for the New York State Senatorial District (the 7th) in Nassau County then represented by Michael J. Tully, Jr. During the campaign, a campaign worker named Weston, under New York's

Freedom of Information Law Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfa ...

(FOIL), requested information on the cost of Tully's taxpayer-subsidized mailings, which Siris argued were really thinly-disguised promotions of the incumbent although styled as educational. Siris argued that such mailings gave Tully (and other incumbents) an unfair advantage over challengers who statistically almost never succeed. When the State Senate declined the FOIL request and claimed immunity from disclosure, the campaign worker sued the Senate during the campaign and Siris acted as his counsel. Entitled "Weston v. Sloan" ("Sloan" having then been Secretary of the Senate), the lawsuit worked its way up to New York's highest court, the

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

, where the Court, after Siris had lost the general election to Tully, directed the Senate comply with FOIL. During the litigation, the Senate was criticized for withholding the information requested. After the Court of Appeals' holding, then-Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...

appointed Siris to fill an interim vacancy on the New York State Supreme Court. Cuomo claimed that he nominated Siris unaware of the lawsuit and that he did not intend to embarrass Tully. In any event, the nomination died in committee. For his efforts, in 1995 Siris received the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

's annual Root-Stimson award for public service. Author of two law review articles and other writings, Siris began his career representing Conrail and other railroads. Siris is now counsel to the

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located withi ...

law firm, Solomon and Siris and has been recognized by the New York Law Journal as one of Long Island's leading lawyers. He specializes in

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

law and title litigation. Among other real estate related matters, he has handled

adverse possession Adverse possession, sometimes colloquially described as "squatter's rights", is a legal principle in the Anglo-American common law under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property—usually land (real property)—may a ...

restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court ...

of real property, and

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbi ...

cases. He also represented JP Morgan Chase in a mortgage priority dispute with high profile attorney Dominic Barbara. He is the moderator of the

Listserv The term Listserv (styled by the registered trademark licensee, L-Soft International, Inc., as LISTSERV) has been used to refer to electronic mailing list software applications in general, but is more properly applied to a few early instances of ...

of the real property section of New York County Lawyers and is a member of the Board of Directors of its Foundation. Siris lives in

Roslyn, NY Roslyn ( ) is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the Greater Roslyn area's anchor community. The population was 2,770 at the 2010 census. History Ro ...

with his wife, Dr. Karen Siris, a retired elementary school principal, author, and bullying prevention expert. His daughter, Liz Winchester, is an author of children's books. His son, John was a member of the controversial 1996

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineerin ...

lacrosse team that was undefeated, untied and uninvited (to the NCAA Division I playoffs).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siris, Michael Living people New York (state) lawyers 1945 births People from Roslyn, New York Great Neck North High School alumni Yale College alumni New York University School of Law alumni