B.S., with merit, United States Naval Academy; J.D., magna cum laude, Georgetown University Law Center.

Professor John P. (“Sean”) Coffey is a mediator/arbitrator with Phillips Alternative Dispute Resolution Enterprises. From 2022 to 2025, he served as the Senate-confirmed 24th General Counsel of the Navy, where he supervised the 1,100 attorneys and staff of the Office of General Counsel, served as chief legal officer for the Secretary of the Navy and other senior leaders, and served as chief ethics officer for the over 900,000 members of the Sailors, Marines, and civilians in the Navy Department.

Professor Coffey graduated with merit from the United States Naval Academy in 1978 with a B.S. in Ocean Engineering. He served as a Naval Flight Officer for eight years of active duty and eighteen years in the Reserve, during which he served as personal aide to Vice President George H.W. Bush and as Commanding Officer both of a reserve P-3 Orion squadron and the reserve component of the Enterprise carrier battle group staff. He retired as a Captain in 20024. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law’s evening program in 1987, and practiced law as a trial lawyer based in New York for over three decades, including several years as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He previously taught Trial Practice at GULC for several years.