Robert Gaffey
St Edmund Fellow
Bob Gaffey came up to St Edmund Hall in 1975 from Brighton College. In addition to reading Jurisprudence, Bob enjoyed all aspects of Hall social life, including serving as JCR Steward for a year, coxing a number of boats, including the Hall First VIII, and playing trumpet around Oxford in a jazz band called the “Oxcentrics.” After he returned to the United States, Bob attended Fordham University Law School, where he graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 1982.
After a brief initial stint in private law practice, Bob joined the US Justice Department in 1985, serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York representing the interests of the United States in trial and appellate courts. Thereafter, he served for several years as Chief Counsel to a court-appointed commission whose remit was to investigate and prosecute multiple organized crime figures who had corrupted the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the largest trade union in the United States.
Upon leaving the public sector, in 1991 Bob joined the global law firm Jones Day. He was based in its New York office and became a partner in 1995. As a trial lawyer at Jones Day, Bob represented the firm’s clients in disputes covering an array of industries and issues, including securities, banking, other financial services, products liability, mass torts, bankruptcy, fraud and contract issues. He also guided clients through both civil and criminal government investigations. Along the way, Bob focused much of his practice on representing non-US persons and entities caught in the unfamiliar maze of the US justice system. When he retired in early 2017, Bob was the head of Jones Day’s Securities Enforcement and Shareholder Litigation practice. Since retiring, Bob has limited his practice to pro bono work, from time to time advising and representing immigrants seeking asylum in the United States. He is a member of the advisory board of Fordham’s Feerick Center for Social Justice, which addresses those issues as well.
As a grateful Aularian, Bob spends some time trying to assist St Edmund Hall in building and tending to the alumni community in North America. He helps to organize the annual Teddy Hall New York dinner first started by William Miller 41 years ago, and he works closely with the Hall’s leadership and development staff to find ways to keep North American Aularians engaged with St Edmund Hall and with each other through increased communications, social events and some fund raising.
Bob is happily married to Deb, whom he married immediately upon returning home from Oxford in 1978. They enjoy time with their son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons, who live quite near their home in White Plains, New York. In addition, Bob enjoys gardening and golf, being much better at the former than the latter.
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