Joshua G. Schiffer was raised in Cobb County, Georgia, on the unincorporated piece of land between Roswell and Marietta. His parents, Drs. Dan and Gail Schiffer, worked for Kimberly-Clark (senior scientist) and Kennesaw State University (biology professor) before retiring to the beach. His only sibling, Chris, works as a psychologist in a maximum security "no touch" facility run by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. To say the boy’s parents are "proud" is an interesting
proposition as one defends people who are accused of a crime and the other provides mental health services to people who have already been convicted and are in a maximum security prison .
After graduating from The Walker School (a Cobb County private school) in 1994 he ventured north to Clark University in Worcester, MA. Majoring in Government/International Relations with a minor in International Development he wanted to help the worlds less fortunate by building latrines and sustainable farms in 3rd World Countries. That is until he found out how hot many of these places were and how much he really enjoys air conditioning and good takeout food.
During and after college Josh worked as a warehouse worker, forklift operator, and truck driver for two companies. It paid a whole lot better that what his friends made and also gave him a real look as to the life of a normal American. The "Regular" person going to work, paying bills, raising kids was an inspiration to someone who came from a modestly privileged background and had never really been exposed to a "blue collar" lifestyle.
Josh graduated from Georgia State University College of Law, in downtown Atlanta, figuring that being so close to the court and the capital he would get a good job with the state or a non-governmental organization after graduating. During law school Josh was active in the Student Trial Lawyers Association where he still holds the unofficial "Most Fish Caught by a Team After being Eliminated from the Competition" record which was set in Miami after his team was "home-cooked" by the Florida judges. He was also active with a moot court team and other school groups.
After graduating in 2002 Josh became the law clerk in the Superior Court of Cobb County where he watched numerous trials and worked supporting an elected judge in her day to day business. After leaving he worked for a residential real estate firm learning the mortgage and closing
business.
Wanting to do more "trial" work Josh joined the Metro Conflict Defender (now a part of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council) where for several years he was the lead public defense attorney for several judges in Fulton County and was also the supervisor of the State All Purpose Calendar where he managed several defense attorneys charged with providing defense for over 100 cases per week. During this period Josh worked with and trained over 20 defense attorneys in basic trial skills and the operations of the court along with dozens of Prosecutors, Judges and Court Personnel. Josh worked extensively with Mental Health, Domestic Violence, Homelessness, Extensive Criminal Records (more than10 criminal convictions), multiple charge/warrants, multiple jurisdictions, concurrent/consecutive sentence, Drug/Alcohol Addiction cases along with many other common and unique issues during this time. Sadly the writing was on the wall at the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council and Mr. Schiffer urges every citizen to write their representatives encouraging funding of this crucial agency.
After being accepted to and graduating from the legendary lawyer Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College, (an elite "graduate school" for trial lawyers consisting of a 3 week course taught at Gerry’s ranch in rural Wyoming by an almost completely volunteer staff of the best criminal defense and plaintiff’s attorneys, it is limited to 54 students per year) Josh joined the firm of Pekor & DeWoskin, LLC where he worked with both partners on a variety of civil and criminal matters as "Of Counsel."
In late 2007 Josh opened The Schiffer Firm, LLC where he accepts a limited number of criminal and civil cases ranging from DUI and Traffic issues to Major Felonies along with Consumer Law (cases involving deceptive business practices, the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and Credit Issues), Bar/Nightclub and some catastrophic personal injury cases. Joshua Schiffer does NOT represent Big Business, Bankers, Insurance Companies, or the Government.
Married to a successful executive, he resides in Atlanta on the West Side and maintains his office in Buckhead across the street from the Lenox Marta station.