About Jeffrey

Law.Research.Standards.Technology. International trade. Entrepreneur. Teacher. Author—Jeffrey has worn a lot of hats in his career.

Jeffrey is recognized as a pioneer in shaping the legal rules for cyberspace. But, wearing all of his hats along the way, he has learned that whether digital information can be trusted is perhaps the essential challenge for a globally connected world.

Jeffrey grew up in Columbus, Ohio and attended The Ohio State University, majoring in Communications. He was their first graduate awarded his B.A. and M.A degrees concurrently while earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Jeffrey received his law degree from Duke University and began his legal career in 1979.

Originally trained as a corporate and securities lawyer, his clients, notably Victoria’s Secret and The Limited, required someone to manage the legal aspects of acquiring computers and software. By the late 1980’s, Jeffrey was consistently pulled to the front edge of innovation in electronic commerce.

As a lawyer and trusted advisor on technology implementation, Jeffrey worked with some of the most recognized corporations and institutions in the world— Chevron, The Limited, duPont, Wal-Mart, Disney Stores, Universal Postal Union, Deutsche Bank, Lord Abbett& Co., TD Ameritrade, PPG, Alcoa, Carnegie Mellon, MeadWestvaco and JP Morgan.

In doing so, he has navigated—and often led from the front on—the migration toward digital global business across a full array of technologies and services—EDI, electronic commerce, encryption, Internet access, digital signatures, privacy, outsourcing, digital records storage, records and information management, and e-discovery.

Throughout his career, Jeffrey has contributed at the front:

• The first chair of the American Bar Association Committee on Cyberspace Law, within the Section of Business Law.
• Represented the United States in Geneva at the United Nations’ program on facilitating international trade, serving as a Co-Rapporteur on Legal Questions.In that role, he participated in UNCITRAL’s efforts to develop a global e-commerce legal framework, resulting in the Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.
• Recognized in 2004 by the American Bar Association for his substantial contributions to developing the law of cyberspace, the only lawyer in private practice to be selected.
• Director of the first full-time academic research program in the US on the law of cyberspace, at The Ohio Supercomputer Center.
• Instrumental in organizing the first official UN meeting in the United States outside of New York since its inception, the World Summit on Trade Efficiency held in Columbus, Ohio in 1994.
• Former outside counsel to the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University.
• Trained as a lead auditor to conduct ISO 27001 audits.
• Author:
  • Defending Electronic Mail as Evidence—The Critical E-Discovery Questions (available on Amazon.com)
  • Discovering the Digital Record: The Questions for Examination (available on Amazon.com)
  • Evaluating the Electronic Discovery Capabilities of Outside Law Firms (BNA, 2006)
  • Contracting for Information Security, Parts I and II (two detailed guides on the terms and best practices for installing information security across online commercial relationships).
  • More than 20 additional articles, papers and reports.

Outside of business, Jeffrey is a passionate cyclist, racing with Evolution Cycling, a masters-level team based in Virginia. 10% of his business earnings are contributed to advancing the development of women’s cycling.

Jeffrey may be reached at jeffrey@jeffreyritter.com or 202.285.7385