Cyrus Amir-Mokri is a partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, resident in its New York office. He concentrates in complex commercial litigation, principally in matters affecting the financial services industry, and has had significant involvement in many of the firm's high-profile litigation matters. Before joining its New York office, Mr. Amir-Mokri practiced in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps. In 1998-99, Mr. Amir-Mokri served as law clerk to the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Mr. Amir-Mokri was born in Tehran, Iran, and, after several sojourns, emigrated to the United States in 1981. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. While in college, he served as co-editor-in-chief of the Harvard International Review and authored a study of the impact of the Kennedy Administration's foreign policy on the "White Revolution" in Iran.
Mr. Amir-Mokri earned a Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of Chicago's department of history, where he received offers of dissertation support from the Mellon and MacArthur Foundations. Mr. Amir-Mokri concentrated in the fields of modern and medieval Islamic history, diplomatic history (particularly that of the United States), and Islamic thought, and, in his dissertation, he examined the ideology and long-term legacy of Iran's constitutional revolution. His most recent contribution to the study of this latter subject was a presentation at the University of Maryland's conference on the Iranian Constitutional Movement in September 2006, where he spoke on the 1906 constitution's treatment of checks and balances between the branches of government. He is also co-author, with Marvin Zonis, of "The Islamic Republic of Iran," published in a volume entitled Politics and Government in the Middle East and North Africa, edited by Ismael and Ismael.
Following graduate school, Mr. Amir-Mokri attended the University of Chicago Law School. While at the Law School, he served as a fellow at the Center for the Study of Constitutionalism in Eastern Europe, studying the interaction between the rule of law, legal institutions, economic development and political participation.
Mr. Amir-Mokri devotes substantial time to community service and pro bono matters. He has represented inmates on death row, prisoners with civil rights claims and political asylum applicants. He has also been active in matters affecting the Iranian-American community. A two-term director and supporter of the Iranian-American Bar Association, he played a central role in supervising preparation of position papers on recent United States immigration policy and an independent report on the implementation of certain of those policies. Mr. Amir-Mokri is also a founding member and supporter of the Iranian-American Political Action Committee, which is devoted to encouraging Iranian-Americans to participate in the civic and political life of the United States.
Mr. Amir-Mokri has a lifelong passion for classical music, of which he is a devoted supporter.
