Richard Briffault is an American legal scholar. He is the Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation at

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 ...

. From 2014 to 2020, he served as Chairman of the

New York City Conflicts of Interest Board The Conflicts of Interest Board (NYC COIB) is the independent New York City agency tasked with administering, enforcing and interpreting Chapter 68 of the New York City Charter, the city's Conflicts of Interest Law, and the city's Annual Disclosure ...

. His specialties are constitutional law, government regulation, and election law.

Biography

Briffault earned a bachelor's degree from

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 ...

in 1974. During his undergraduate studies, Briffault served as Managing Editor of the ''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the second-oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after '' The Harvard Crimson'', a ...

'' in 1973. He graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1977. Briffault subsequently clerked for Judge Shirley Hufstedler of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, worked for New York Governor Hugh Carey as assistant counsel, and worked for the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison as an associate. Briffault began teaching at

in 1983, and was later named the Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation. His specialties are constitutional law, government regulation, and election law. He has been the reporter for the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...

's Principles of Government Ethics project, and, was named to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, the Moreland Commission, which probes systemic public corruption and the appearance of such corruption in state government, political campaigns, and elections. From 2014 to 2020, he served as Chairman of the

. The Board is an enforcement agency that governs the ethical conduct of public employees. Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

nominated Briffault for the post, and Briffault said: “I have spent my entire career working for a more ethical and honest government." He said in 2022: “The essence of he Boardis making sure that public servants are serving the public and not serving their own interests or serving the interests of people associated with them. appearances also matter, in terms of public confidence in the integrity of their officials.”

Personal life and family

He married Canadian economist

Sherry Glied Sherry A. Glied (born 1961) is a Canadian-American economist. She is Dean of New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. From 2010 to 2012, she was Assistant Secretary at the United States Department of Health and Hu ...

in 1993. Glied currently serves as the Dean of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briffault, Richard Columbia Law School faculty Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers New York (state) lawyers American legal scholars