Jeffrey J. Haas

Professor of Law

Professor Jeffrey Haas is a leading authority on corporate, securities and business law. He teaches courses in securities regulation, corporations, mergers & acquisitions, mutual fund regulation and contracts. Prior to joining the faculty at NYLS in 1996, Jeff practiced corporate and securities law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Latham & Watkins.

Jeff believes that it is crucial that law professors—particularly business law professors—“walk the walk” in addition to merely “talking the talk.” “Theory has its place,” according to Jeff, “but it has to be closely integrated into practice-based learning. Doing otherwise is a disservice to the many students who seek to practice law upon graduation.” Thus, Jeff continues to have one foot firmly planted in the real world in order to enhance his students’ educational experience. Indeed, Jeff has served on boards of directors of public companies for almost 15 years. Currently, he proudly serves on the board of the American Independence mutual fund family and previously served on the board of the HSBC family of mutual funds. Jeff has substantial experience (including as Chair) on audit, compensation and nominating committees.

Additionally, Jeff brings into the classroom experiences he garners through his representation of a limited number of private clients. Most of these clients are entrepreneurs and small business owners, such as technology-oriented Pixafy (pixafy.com) and real estate upstart RetailMLS (retailmls.com). “When discussing various types of business entities and the managerial, tax and other repercussions of each, students react differently when you tell them that you had the exact same discussion with a client earlier that day,” says Jeff. “Moreover, one of the best ways to prepare students for representing clients is to do so yourself and then share the experience with them,” Jeff adds.

A drummer by background, many of Jeff’s clients stem from his passion for rock and roll music and memorabilia collecting. Through his representation of Gotta Have It! (gottahaveit.com) and its affiliated companies, Jeff has negotiated deals involving Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Eminem, The Eagles, The Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, The Recording Academy (“GRAMMYS”) and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. To his students’ delight, Jeff keeps a Roland V-Pro electronic drum set in his office at NYLS.

As a scholar, Jeff’s articles have appeared in the Southern California Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, the Emory Law Review and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, among others. He has also authored the book CORPORATE FINANCE (1st and 2nd editions, Thomson West 2011) and co-authored the books INVESTMENT ADVISER REGULATION (Thomson West 2008) and CORPORATE FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE: CASES, MATERIALS AND PROBLEMS FOR AN ADVANCED COURSE IN CORPORATIONS (Carolina Academic Press 2006). Jeff received his B.S. summa cum laude from Florida State University (double major in Finance and Classical Civilizations) and his J.D. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was a Comment Editor on the Law Review. Jeff also studied at the University of Melbourne in Australia as a Rotary Foundation Scholar.