About James Francis
James Francis Scafide’s academic record traces a steady climb through public policy and law. He earned a Bachelor of General Studies in liberal arts and urban studies from Kent State University in 1992. He then completed a Master of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School in 1995. He received a J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1999 and later added an LL.M. in Advanced Corporate Studies from Harvard Law School in 2002.
After law school, Scafide began his legal career in private practice as an associate at Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault in 1999. He moved in-house in 2003 when he became general counsel for Presstek, Inc., handling corporate and transactional matters for a technology-driven company. The shift from firm to corporate counsel broadened his exposure to intellectual property and commercial agreements.
Scafide returned to public service in 2007 as chief of the Business, Technology and Economic Development Division in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office. In that role he oversaw enforcement and policy work at the intersection of business regulation and economic growth. The post put him in the middle of state-level responses to technology and business issues at a time when those fields were rapidly evolving.
He re-entered private practice thereafter, joining Buynak, Fauver, Archbald & Spray LLP as a principal in 2009 and later founding the Scafide Law Office, PC in 2014. Alongside his practice he has taught law. He served as an adjunct professor at Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law in 2013 and later at California Lutheran University in 2021. Those teaching roles reflect an ongoing interest in mentoring newer lawyers and explaining complex transactional topics to students.
Scafide is admitted to practice in California and Massachusetts and has been a member of the Massachusetts State Bar since 1999. He maintains an office at Figueroa Law Group LLP and also operates the Scafide Law Office, PC, continuing work he began after leaving firm practice. He handles corporate, technology and business law matters, and advises clients on commercial contracts, intellectual property licensing and economic development issues.
He continues to split his time between private practice and academic engagements, concentrating his current practice on corporate and technology law and related business matters.
