Professor Cioffi received his J.D. with High Honors from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to his academic career, Professor Cioffi clerked for United States District Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise (D.N.J.) and practiced law as a litigation associate with the New York law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton.