Danielle D’Onfro

Danielle D'Onfro is a Professor of Law at Washington University School of Law, teaching Property, Advanced Private Law, and Corporations. Awarded the David M. Becker Professor of the Year in 2022, she specializes in private law theory with emphasis on property, contracts, and corporate law intersections.

Her educational background includes a J.D. from Harvard Law School (cum laude, 2011) and a B.A. in Classics from Columbia College (magna cum laude, 2006), followed by a clerkship with Judge Allyson K. Duncan and practice at WilmerHale in debt finance and bankruptcy.

D'Onfro's research employs economic and historical analysis to examine emerging assets within private law frameworks. She critically investigates doctrinal equilibrium disruptions, such as contract-law principles being misapplied to property categories like chattels, and develops consumer-protecting mechanisms in property law. Her work consistently challenges conventional approaches to legal doctrine evolution.

Publications in top journals like Harvard Law Review and Yale Law Journal reveal thematic trends: redefining property boundaries for intangibles, analyzing contractual imperfection in consumer markets, and applying property theory to corporate structures. Recent scholarship increasingly addresses digital assets and Fourth Amendment implications.

Scientific awards and honors include:

• David M. Becker Professor of the Year Award (2022)
• Student Fellow, Program on the Foundations of Private Law
• magna cum laude, Columbia University (2006)
• cum laude, Harvard Law School (2011)