Eric Chaffee is a nationally recognized expert and educator in business law, contract law, law & technology, taxation, and trusts & estates. He is an advocate for integrating financial literacy education and transactional skills training into law school curricula. Over the course of his career, he has received numerous awards for his teaching.
A prolific writer, Professor Chaffee’s scholarship focuses on three main areas. First, he examines the evolving relationship among business law, taxation, and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, digital assets, and virtual worlds. He is a co-author of the leading treatise Securities Regulation in Cyberspace and a casebook on cyberlaw. Second, he explores how choice of entity impacts organizational purpose and governance, with a focus on corporations, tax-exempt organizations, and business trusts. Third, he writes regularly about securities law and investment markets. His work on these topics and others has been accepted for publication in numerous law reviews, including the Boston College Law Review, Ohio State Law Journal, UC Davis Law Review and Washington and Lee Law Review. He has published articles in specialty journals at various institutions, including Stanford Law School, New York University School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School and University of Michigan Law School.
Professor Chaffee is actively engaged in various legal professional organizations. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is currently serving as the chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Business Associations and as chair of the Section on Nonprofit and Philanthropy Law. He has previously served as chair of the Section on Internet & Computer Law, chair of the Section on Securities Regulation, and chair of the Section on Scholarship of that institution. He is a co-founder and executive committee member of the National Business Law Scholars Conference, the premier academic conference for business law in the United States. He is also active in law school accreditation and has been a member of six American Bar Association (ABA) site visit teams—including as chair. In addition, he has served as a reporter for the American Association of Law Schools in that organization’s membership review process.
At the law school, Professor Chaffee currently serves as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Strategic Programs, where he provides leadership across all aspects of the law school’s non-J.D. programs. His responsibilities include overseeing curricular development, accreditation, budgeting, marketing, admissions, student services, career planning, alumni engagement and community outreach. He has played a central role in developing and expanding the law school’s Compliance and Risk Management Program, which enrolls a significant number of students each year and boasts a 100% job placement rate. Previously, he held the position of Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at two other institutions, where he mentored scholars, managed research funding, and curated extensive academic programming, including workshop series, conferences, and symposia.
A sought-after commentator, Professor Chaffee is frequently invited to speak at symposia, conferences, workshops and other events across the United States and abroad. He has lectured at institutions throughout Asia and Europe. He has been interviewed and quoted by numerous news outlets such as BBC News, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, The National Law Journal, NPR, Reuters, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among many others.
Professor Chaffee has been an expert witness and consultant in various matters, including offering testimony in high-stakes, corporate litigation. Additionally, throughout his career, Professor Chaffee has worked with tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, including serving on several boards, advising various institutions on legal issues, and engaging in substantial fundraising. He is licensed to practice law in Ohio. He is also a trained Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitrator.
Before entering the legal academy, Professor Chaffee was an attorney with Jones Day, where he handled civil and criminal matters for numerous Fortune 500 companies. As a law student, he worked at Legal Aid in both Philadelphia and Ohio. He earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.