Professor Patterson, who holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a J.D. from the University of Buffalo, writes in the fields of commercial law, trade law and legal philosophy.

Professor Patterson has been awarded Senior Research grants from the Fulbright Commission, Humboldt Stiftung, and the American Council of Learned Societies.

He was the 2005 holder of the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Law at Trento University.

The author of numerous books and articles in both commercial law and legal philosophy, Professor Patterson has been a visiting professor at the universities of Berlin, Vienna, Texas and Georgetown.