Roger Anthony Fairfax Jr. is an American legal scholar who is Dean of the

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the old ...

Education

Roger Fairfax Jr. attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

before completing a master's degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He also attended Archbishop Carroll High School in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

While a student at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, Fairfax edited the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...

''. He was a law clerk for

Patti B. Saris Patti Barbara Saris (born July 20, 1951) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She is also the former chair of the United States Sentencing Commission. Early life and edu ...

and later

Judith W. Rogers Judith Ann Wilson Rogers (born July 27, 1939) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early life and career Judith Ann Wilson was born on July 27, 1939, in New York Cit ...

Family

Roger Fairfax Jr. is the eldest son of Roger Sr. and Charlene Fairfax. Fairfax Jr.'s youngest brother,

Justin Fairfax Justin Edward Fairfax (born February 17, 1979) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the second African-American elected statewide ...

, served as

lieutenant governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held ...

from 2018 to 2022. The Fairfax family can trace its ancestry to Simon Fairfax, a slave freed by

Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1762 – April 21, 1846) was an American planter. Along with his father, on 11 December 1799, he was among the last guests at Mount Vernon before George Washington died. Early life and family Thomas ...

. Roger Fairfax Jr. and his wife Lisa Fairfax raised three children.

Career

Fairfax is an elected member of the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...

. Fairfax was a federal prosecutor and worked for

O'Melveny & Myers O'Melveny & Myers LLP is an American multinational law firm founded in Los Angeles in 1885. The firm employs approximately 800 lawyers and has offices in California, Washington, D.C., New York City, Texas, Beijing, Brussels, Hong Kong, London, S ...

before joining the

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest law school in Washington, D. ...

faculty, where he served as

Patricia Roberts Harris Patricia Roberts Harris (May 31, 1924March 23, 1985) was an American politician, diplomat, and legal scholar. She served as the 6th United States secretary of housing and urban development from 1977 to 1979 and as the 13th United States secretar ...

Research Professor of Law until 2021, when he was appointed dean of the

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of northw ...

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

. In 2024, Fairfax became dean of the

. Fairfax is also the chair of Archbishop Carroll High School's board of directors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfax, Roger 21st-century American lawyers Deans of law schools in the United States African-American academic administrators African-American legal scholars 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Members of the American Law Institute Washington College of Law faculty George Washington University Law School faculty Howard University School of Law faculty Harvard Law School alumni Harvard College alumni Alumni of the University of London American expatriates in the United Kingdom Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American lawyers