Webinar: Staying Safe on and off the Bench: Tools for Judicial Protection

Presented by the Federal Bar Association’s Judiciary Division

Presenters

John Muffler, Principal, Aequitas Global Security, LLC, former Chief Inspector, U.S. Marshal Service

John Muffler, MS, CTM, Principal of Aequitas Global Security, LLC, is a strategic consultant for judicial officers, high-visibility clients in government, business, education, entertainment, and private sectors, developing strategic initiatives and crisis management processes. A retired United States Marshals Service Chief Inspector, he developed and led the National Center for Judicial Security. Holding a top-secret clearance and key leadership positions throughout his decorated career, he led programs in judicial and witness protection, emergency management, physical security, fugitive investigations, and threat assessment and management. John serves as adjunct faculty for the National Judicial College, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division, and as faculty/consultant for the National Center for State Courts, developing safety and security programs for court facilities and personnel, judges and their families, ranging from immersive learning to in-person consultations and assessments. As a public service, John has given his time for local and national media interviews and has written over thirty articles published in legal and law enforcement magazines/websites on pursuer behavior, targeted violence, situational awareness, and protecting personally identifiable information. John was an executive producer for the award-winning workplace safety video series, Project 365: Security Starts with You, for the United States Courts, developed as an educational tool for federal, state, local, and tribal judges. He is certified in threat management through the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals; serves on the Executive Board of the International Association of Chiefs of Police IMPACT Section; and served as faculty to St. Joseph’s University graduate program and the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation. He has developed and delivered nationally recognized programs on violent extremism, domestic violence awareness, active shooter preparedness, and judicial protection. He was the 2022 recipient of American Security Today’s ‘ASTORS’ Award for Excellence in Public Safety. Accepted into the United States Department of State’s Fulbright Specialist Program, John has taught globally on judicial security and threat assessment. As a consultant, he is a senior advisor for Gavin de Becker and Associates’ clients on anti-assassination strategies and the assessment and management of situations that might pose a hazard to their safety or well-being. John is an alum of Naval Postgraduate School’s Executive Leaders Program and holds a master’s degree from St. Joseph’s University.

Hon. Mimi Tsankov (Ret.) (Moderator)

Mediator/Arbitrator/Neutral

Judge Mimi Tsankov is a certified mediator/arbitrator in New York City currently serving on the JAMS Labor Panel, and the American Arbitration Association Labor Panel. Since retiring from the Federal Government, she serves on a wide range of State panels throughout New York. For nearly two decades, she served as a judge in the federal administrative judiciary, prosecuted cases on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Peace Corps, and worked over 10 years in private law practice. She’s been recognized both at the court and throughout various legal organizations for her work as a judge and as a leader in the international legal community, holding multiple elected and appointed roles for decades in leading organizations, including the ABA, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Judicial Council 2 (a national labor organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO), the Federal Bar Association, and the National Association of Women Judges. She’s received multiple ABA Presidential Appointments to the UN Representatives Department of Global Communications, and is currently Immediate Past Chair of the ABA’s Judicial Division’s National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary. She’s a Board Member of the City Bar of New York’s Commercial Law Section, and an Affiliate Board Member of its ADR Section. She is a member of multiple chapters of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA). In the labor field, she’s contributed to ongoing labor-related discussions by testifying before the Judiciary Committees of both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives,  meeting regularly with Congressional leaders, publishing numerous articles in legal periodicals and in a variety of law journals, serving on national and international panels (U.S., Canada, and Europe) speaking with members of all major media outlets (print, TV, film, and radio), and by producing podcast stories. To keep the community informed, she’s also provided expert background information for film, museum, and theater releases, explaining the nuances of labor issues in the immigration context.

Throughout her career, she’s received many honors, awards, and citations from the U.S. Department of Justice, the ABA and the FBA, and others. As a Federal Administrative Judge, she presided over cases throughout the U.S., including New York, Colorado, Texas, Nevada, Florida, and California. She’s on the Adjunct Law Faculty at Fordham Law School in New York and has been on the faculty of Colorado Law School and the Sturm College of Law in Denver, Colorado. She publishes regularly in peer-reviewed and general interest journals. She completed her J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law and earned an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Virginia Graduate School of Politics.

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• Registration Fees
  • FBA Member: $0
  • Nonmember: $95

  Live Captioning: Closed captioning is available for all virtual webcasts.

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