Hon. Michael C. Farkas (Ret.)

Hon. Michael C. Farkas (Ret) is a retired Military Judge who served for 28 years with the United States Army Reserve. As an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, Mr. Farkas served with distinction in every capacity relating to military justice, and further concentrated in the Law of Armed Conflict, detention operations, and Rule of Law missions, ultimately earning a secondary operational specialty in the Military Police Corps. In his civilian career Mr. Farkas is a prominent New York City trial attorney and respected figure in the fields of criminal justice, securities litigation, and attorney discipline. He is a former homicide prosecutor, a former Wall Street in-house counsel, a Bar leader, and a longtime member of his jurisdiction’s Attorney Grievance Committee.

As a deployed active duty military prosecutor assigned to U.S. Army Europe, Mr. Farkas tried Soldiers charged with serious crimes before General Courts Martial and trained local Military Police and Army Criminal Investigation Division personnel. Rising through the ranks, he later became a Regional Defense Counsel and then Deputy Commander of an Army Reserve Trial Defense Services Unit. He also handled scores of adverse administrative board and non-judicial punishment (Article 15) proceedings throughout his career, as both government and defense counsel. In 2020 he was selected as a Military Judge and assigned to the Army Trial Judiciary’s 1st Judicial Circuit, where he presided over General Courts Martial until his retirement in 2023.

In his role as a Judge Advocate assigned to a Military Police detachment during and after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Farkas was deployed in the Army’s first wave sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he served in dual roles as both a Military Police staff officer and a JAG attorney. Mr. Farkas coordinated the detention group’s security and counterintelligence operations in his MP capacity, while also serving as one of the Joint Task Force’s legal advisors on International Law and the Geneva Conventions. Among other duties, Mr. Farkas acted as the command group’s principal liaison with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Mr. Farkas also served as a legal advisor to the U.S. Army Reserve’s Military Intelligence Readiness Command, and completed the Intelligence Law Course administered by the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School.

As a civilian, Mr. Farkas has nearly 30 years of experience as a criminal trial lawyer and securities defense attorney. He began his career in 1994 as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, where he handled criminal matters at all stages from arrest through trial and was later assigned to the prestigious Homicide Bureau. In that role, Mr. Farkas’ efforts focused exclusively on the successful prosecution of some of the City’s most violent and high-profile murder cases. In 2003 Mr. Farkas joined Citigroup Global Markets Inc., then the world’s largest financial services company, where he represented the company’s retail brokerage unit, Smith Barney, in hundreds of arbitration claims filed across the country by the firm’s public customers. Mr. Farkas regularly took these cases to trial, where he enjoyed an overwhelming success rate. He also represented dozens of the firm’s employees facing securities regulatory investigations.

Since entering private practice Mr. Farkas has represented high profile criminal defense clients facing allegations ranging from violent crimes to white collar fraud and political corruption offenses; financial industry professionals involved in complex FINRA and SEC investigations and disciplinary proceedings; and military service members prosecuted by General Courts Martial as well as those facing separation and other adverse administrative proceedings. Mr. Farkas is a trustee of the Brooklyn Bar Association and Chair of its Criminal Law Committee, a former President of the Kings Country Criminal Bar Association, a member of the Grievance Committee for the 2nd, 11th and 13th Judicial Districts, Vice President of the 4th Judge Advocate General’s Association, a certified FINRA arbitrator, and a member of various other civilian and military organizations.

Mr. Farkas frequently contributes commentary for televised media programs and news publications, and he has published articles on the humanitarian detention and prosecution of terrorist combatants since 9/11. He continues to guest lecture at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and he presents legal education programs to attorneys on topics relating to legal ethics and criminal practice. A graduate of Albany State University’s School of Criminal Justice and Brooklyn Law School, Mr. Farkas is a lifelong resident of Brooklyn.