Sean Coffey

From February 2022 to January 2025, the Honorable John P. (“Sean”) Coffey served as the Senate-confirmed 24th General Counsel of the Navy, overseeing the 1,100 attorneys and staff of the Office of General Counsel in 140 offices worldwide providing legal advice to the Secretary of the Navy, the Under Secretary, the Assistant Secretaries and their staffs, and the multiple components of the Department, to include the Navy and Marine Corps. Among his more notable achievements was founding the “Taxpayer Advocacy Project” to apply novel legal authorities to enhance defense contractor performance, and initiating the exhaustive record review that led to the exoneration of 256 African American Sailors wrongfully convicted in the 1944 Port Chicago courts-martial. For these and other contributions, the Secretary of the Navy awarded Mr. Coffey the Department of the Navy’s highest civilian recognition, the Distinguished Public Service Award, in 2025.

Prior to becoming Navy GC, Mr. Coffey was a nationally renowned trial lawyer who compiled a record of notable successes as a federal prosecutor, plaintiffs’ lawyer and defense lawyer across a broad range of complex matters.

Mr. Coffey earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center’s evening division, which he attended while an active-duty naval officer assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as personal military aide to Vice President George H.W. Bush. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a B.S. in Ocean Engineering, with merit, qualified as a Naval Flight Officer, and retired as a Navy Captain after 26 years of active and Reserve service.

Mr. Coffey is a member of the distinguished panel of neutrals at Phillips Alternative Disputes Enterprises (“PADRE”), where he assists parties to legal disputes resolve their differences out of court, either through mediation or arbitration. He is admitted to the bar in New York and New Jersey and to the bars of many federal courts. Mr. Coffey retains a Top Secret/SCI clearance.