Biography

An expert in the law and regulation of e-commerce and videogames, Prof. Fairfield’s research and scholarship explores the law and economics of online contracts and the application of standard economic models to virtual environments.

In addition, Prof. Fairfield is one of the nation’s leading voices in the analysis of virtual worlds, such as the popular Second Life. He has briefed intelligence officials on terrorist activity and law enforcement within virtual worlds and has written on strategies for protecting children online. In October 2008, Fairfield organized and hosted a first-of-its-kind symposium at the School of Law exploring the legal and social challenges of virtual worlds built specifically for children, the fastest growing area of virtual environments. 

Before earning his JD magna cum laude from the University of Chicago in 2001, Prof. Fairfield directed the development of the award winning Rosetta Stone Language Library, a leading language teaching software program for educational institutions. After law school, Professor Fairfield clerked for Judge Danny J. Boggs at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He then joined Jones Day in Columbus, Ohio, where he litigated cases in commercial law and software/technology law. Before coming to Washington and Lee, Professor Fairfield taught at Columbia Law School and the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington.

University of Chicago Law Review; Symposium Editor, University of Chicago Legal Forum; law clerk to Judge Danny J. Boggs, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Louisville, KY, 2000-01; associate, Jones Day, Columbus, OH, 2002-04; Associate-in-Law, Columbia, 2004-05; Associate Professor of Law, Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, 2005-2008; Visiting Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University, 2007-08; Associate Professor of Law, 2008-.