Bruce is a former federal and state prosecutor who has practiced criminal law for more than 35 years. During that time, he has tried virtually every type of criminal case - from securities fraud to murder and has represented individuals ranging from celebrities to indigent clients as a member of the Criminal Justice Act panel of the Southern District of New York. As a result of his professional accomplishments, Bruce was inducted in 2009 as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and recently completed a two-year term as chair of its Downstate New York Committee.
Bruce also has conducted internal investigations for various companies and labor unions and currently serves as the Ethical Practices Officer for AFSCME District Council 37, New York City’s largest municipal union, where he is responsible for investigating allegations of corruption among that union’s approximately 120,000 members.
Between 1984 and 1989, Bruce was a prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York. There, he was responsible for bringing a number of historic RICO prosecutions, including United States v. Schwimmer, 924 F. 2d 443 (2d Cir. 1991), the first major prosecution of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980's and a case that dramatically expanded the scope of liability for union pension fund advisers. Based on his efforts, in that case, Bruce testified before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee about the challenges involved in investigating complex financial crime cases.
In addition to his fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers, Bruce consistently has been selected as a Super Lawyer and Best Lawyer in his practice area. He is admitted to practice law in the states of New York and New Hampshire, as well as the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Districts of Connecticut and New Hampshire, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.
News
November 20, 2019
Facing potential expulsion from United Automobile Workers, Gary Jones, the union president, resigned last week. Bruce Maffeo, a member of the White Collar Defense & Investigations practice group, was quoted in a Law360 article discussing the resignation saying Jones was retiring “to allow the union to focus on its core mission to improve the lives of its members and families.”
September 27, 2019
Super Lawyers has named 17 Cozen O'Connor attorneys to its 2019 New York Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list.
August 28, 2019
Best Lawyers selected 138 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 21 of the firm’s national offices for inclusion in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
September 21, 2018
Super Lawyers has named 17 Cozen O'Connor attorneys to its 2018 New York Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list. Twelve were recognized as Super Lawyers and five were named "Rising Stars."
August 22, 2018
One hundred twenty-six Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 20 of the firm’s national offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
August 02, 2018
Bruce Maffeo, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations Practice, is quoted in an article in Law360 discussing embezzlement and falsifying information charges against the founder of Armao LLP.
July 26, 2018
Bruce Maffeo, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations Practice Group, discusses mixed martial arts fighter, Connor McGregor’s guilty plea in Reuters.
September 29, 2017
Cozen O’Connor is proud to announce that six of the firm’s lawyers have been recognized as “Lawyers of the Year” in their respective practices by Best Lawyers in America,
one of the oldest and most highly regarded peer review publications in the legal profession.
August 23, 2017
Lawyers were selected for inclusion in the 2018 edition based on a rigorous peer-review that has been developed and defined for more than 30 years.
June 28, 2017
Bruce Maffeo, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations Practice, comments on that charges the International Brotherhood of Teamsters dropped against his client William C. Smith, III.
January 27, 2017
Bruce Maffeo, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations practice, discusses the outcome of this case on CNBC.
October 05, 2016
The 2016 New York Metro edition of Super Lawyers Magazine, published by Thomson Reuters, has named 21 Cozen O’Connor attorneys to its list of Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
August 26, 2016
Bruce Maffeo, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations practice, discusses recent litigation again Harco in the Wall Street Journal.
August 15, 2016
Sixty-two Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 13 of the firm’s national offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2017 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
October 05, 2015
The 2015 New York Metro edition of Super Lawyers Magazine, published by Thomson Reuters, has named 21 Cozen O’Connor attorneys to its list of Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
August 17, 2015
The current edition is based on more than five million detailed evaluations by the top lawyers of the country. This list will be included in dozens of city and regional publications in the United States including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
February 05, 2015
In an article titled “Lawmaker Brings Prosecutorial Perspective to Assembly,” J. Bruce Maffeo, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations Practice Group, discusses former Eastern District prosecutor, now New York State Assemblyman, Todd Kaminsky. “Basically if I had to describe him I'd say brash but honorable,” said J. Bruce Maffeo, a lawyer who represented former hip-hop manager Jimmy (Henchman) Rosemond during a murder-for-hire trial in 2014, when Kaminsky was still a prosecutor, that resulted in a hung jury. Maffeo described Kaminsky as "somewhat informal," a departure from the traditional prosecutor.
September 23, 2014
The 2014 New York Metro edition of Super Lawyers Magazine, published by Thomson Reuters, has named 16 Cozen O’Connor attorneys to its list of Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
August 28, 2013
Forty-six Cozen O’Connor lawyers from eight of the firm’s national offices have been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America. Attorneys were selected based on a rigorous peer-review of more than 4.3 million detailed evaluations. The list will be included in publications such as The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and New York magazine.
February 27, 2012
J. Bruce Maffeo was quoted in the Government Product News article ''Trial of Former County Commissioner Prompts Corruption Questions'' regarding the criminal trial investigation of former Cuyahoga County, Ohio commissioner Jimmy Dimora.
February 09, 2011
Forty-three Cozen O’Connor lawyers from six of the firm’s national offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Lawyers were selected for inclusion in the 2011 edition based on a rigorous peer–review of more than 3.1 million detailed evaluations.
December 22, 2010
Bruce Maffeo, a member of Cozen O'Connor's White Collar Crimes and Criminal Defense Practice Group, was a call-in guest with Daryl Longullo from ON THE MONEY!
August 09, 2010
Cozen O’Connor Adds White-Collar Criminal Defense Attorneys J. Bruce Maffeo and Niki Warin to New York City Office
Publications
April 17, 2019
Chris Kende, Bruce Maffeo and Dina Moussa, discuss the civil and criminal liability Boeing could face following the two crashes and subsequent grounding of the brand new Boeing 737 MAX.
January 13, 2017
Bruce Maffeo, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations practice, discusses the second circuit revisiting limits on Proffer agreements in the New York Law Journal.
Events & Seminars
Past Events
July 27, 2016 - New York, NY
April 30, 2013 - New York, NY
April 26, 2011 - Philadelphia, PA