About Chavi Keeney
Chavi Keeney Nana built a legal path that crosses academia and private practice. She holds an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Oxford, completed in 2002, and a J.D. from Yale Law School, awarded in 2009. Those formative years set the stage for a career that moved quickly from courtroom work to counsel roles and then into the classroom.
After law school she entered litigation practice. In 2010 she joined Jenner & Block as an associate in the litigation department. That early period was devoted to managing discovery, briefing, and courtroom preparation in complex civil matters. Two years later she moved to WilmerHale, where she served as counsel beginning in 2012. Her time at the firm involved counseling clients and working on a range of disputes handled by the litigation teams.
Nana was admitted to the New York bar in 2010 and has maintained her membership in the New York State Bar since then. That credential has anchored both her firm work and later academic appointments. It also reflects the dual nature of her career, which has required keeping one foot in practice while developing a record in legal education.
In 2022 she joined the University of Michigan Law School as a Professor from Practice. The title signals a role that combines classroom teaching with insights drawn from real-world practice. Colleagues and students see her as someone who translates the procedural and strategic realities of litigation into lessons that law students can apply as they prepare for practice.
Her professional profile follows a clear throughline: litigation experience at large firms followed by a transition into legal education. The work at Jenner & Block and WilmerHale provided practical exposure to litigation tasks and client counseling. The academic role allows her to frame those experiences for students, offering concrete examples of advocacy, case management, and professional judgment.
Nana’s career is notable for its steady movement between practice and teaching rather than any single public controversy or headline case. She continues to hold active membership in the New York bar and maintains professional links to firm practice while teaching. She currently divides her professional time between instruction at the University of Michigan Law School and legal work tied to her New York practice, focusing on litigation and related advisory matters.
