Biographical Sketch
Professor Fairfax teaches courses in criminal law, and constitutional and adjudicatory criminal procedure, as well as seminars on the grand jury and white collar criminal investigations. He conducts research on criminal procedure and discretion in the criminal process, with a focus on the grand jury, prosecutorial ethics and discretion, criminal law policymaking, and procedural rulemaking and reform.

Before joining the Law School faculty, Professor Fairfax served as a federal prosecutor in the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he represented the United States in a broad range of public corruption investigations and prosecutions. During his time in the Attorney General’s Honors Program, he also served details as special assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and as special assistant to the assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division of DOJ. Following his government service, Professor Fairfax joined the Washington, D.C. office of O'Melveny & Myers where his practice included white collar criminal and regulatory defense, internal investigations, complex civil litigation, and strategic counseling, as well as pro bono indigent criminal defense, appellate, and civil rights litigation.

Professor Fairfax graduated from Harvard College, the University of London, and Harvard Law School, where he served as commentaries chair of the Harvard Law Review and was awarded the Heyman Fellowship for Government Service. Professor Fairfax clerked for Judge Patti B. Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and for Judge Judith W. Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Professor Fairfax is a member of the governing council of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section, and of the board of trustees of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools. He also is a member of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court and serves on the board of advisors of the Bureau of National Affairs White Collar Crime Report.

Education
B.A., J.D., Harvard University; M.A., University of London

Current Semester Courses
Criminal Law