Daniel M. Schaffzin

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
dschaffzin@law.und.edu

Professor Schaffzin is an instructor in the University of North Dakota School of Law’s Clinical Education Program.  Along with Professor Katharine Traylor Schaffzin, Professor Schaffzin also coaches the Law School’s Trial Team, which this year won the Regional Championship and advanced as National Finalists in the National Trial Competition sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Texas Young Lawyers Association.

Professor Schaffzin graduated cum laude from Temple University School of Law in 2000, and earned his B.A. in journalism, magna cum laude, from Temple University in 1996.  While in Law School, Professor Schaffzin was a member of the Temple University Law Review and completed legal internships with the Office of the United States Attorney (Eastern District of Pennsylvania), the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, and the Philadelphia Police Department.  For his work teaching constitutional law issues and setting up teen courts in the Philadelphia public school system, Professor Schaffzin received the Beth Early Farnbach Award for outstanding contribution of a law student to the community.

Following law school, Professor Schaffzin worked for five years in the Health Effects Litigation Practice Group of Pepper Hamilton LLP in Philadelphia, where he focused his practice on pharmaceutical and medical device products liability litigation.  Professor Schaffzin also maintained an active pro bono practice, including work on a successful death penalty appeal under the Pennsylvania Post-Conviction Relief Act.  He was a recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Pro Bono Award in 2005.

In 2005, Professor Schaffzin joined GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as Counsel in the pharmaceutical company’s U.S. Legal Operations group.  At GSK, Professor Schaffzin served on the Sales, Marketing, and Managed Care legal team, providing counsel to the company’s diabetes franchise and pediatric vaccines product teams, as well as to several sales regions, concerning product promotion, fraud and abuse, and general regulatory compliance issues.

Professor Schaffzin is a member of the Bar in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and North Dakota.  He is admitted to the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Professor Schaffzin is a member of the board of directors of Hillel of Greater Philadelphia and Camp Ramah in the Poconos.  Additionally, he served as a coach of the high school mock trial team at the Franklin Learning Center in Philadelphia from 2001 to 2007.

Before starting his legal career, Professor Schaffzin served as a public affairs officer at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C.