Peter Siviglia, Esq.
Peter Siviglia was born in Brooklyn, NY, about the time the Dead Sea was just beginning to feel ill. He is now semi-retired from the practice of law, spending much of his time writing about contract preparation and negotiation and teaching his grandchildren the games he played on the streets of Brooklyn.
Peter received a BA from Williams College in 1961, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with Highest Honors; an MA from Brown University in 1962; and a JD from Harvard University in 1965.
He has practiced law in New York continuously for more than 50 years, mostly in Manhattan, representing domestic and foreign clients in public and private matters, including transactional and corporate matters. He has also served as correspondent and special counsel to major international law firms on contract matters and negotiations.
All of Peter's contracts that have been involved in litigation—and there have been only a few—have been enforced against the defaulting party, without exception, on summary judgment, based solely on the words of the contract. In one case, a federal district court in New York, quoting the entire agreement in its opinion, wrote, "Nothing could be more clear..." In another, a Texas appellate court, in a unanimous three-judge opinion, repeatedly cited the contract's "clear wording" and "unambiguous" text and concluded, "Under the Agreement's unambiguous language . . . [the defendant] must pay the Fee" ($21 million).
Before retiring to Tarrytown, NY, Peter was co-managing partner of the firm Sharfman, Siviglia, Poret, Kook, Ross & Shanman, P.C. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association.
Peter is the author of one of West Group's best-selling works in the commercial field, Commercial Agreements—A Lawyer's Guide to Drafting and Negotiating, Thomson Reuters, which has been supplemented annually and has been in publication for more than 30 years. In 2025, Carolina Academic Press published a second revised and expanded edition of Transactional Skills—Contract Preparation and Negotiating. In 2019, Carolina Academic Press published a second revised and expanded edition of Exercises in Commercial Transactions.
In addition, Peter has written numerous articles on contract preparation and other legal topics, as well as a book of poetry and other writings, The Sidelines of Time, published by Archway Publishing. He also lectures on contract preparation, negotiation, and business transactions for Continuing Legal Education programs.
