Christopher M. Fairman

Christopher M. Fairman is a full professor of law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

He was awarded the "Outstanding Professor Award 2003", as voted by the Graduating Class of 2003. Fairman is well known among his students for his unusual approach to teaching the law. Fairman teaches using Power Point presentations, which often contain funny illustrations, appropriate sound effects, and references to pop culture.

Fairman's most recent article, "Fuck", examines legal implications of the use of the word "fuck". Fairman's article quickly became one of the most downloaded scholarly legal articles on the internet, leading to some controversy in Brian Leiter's list of "Most Downloaded Law Faculties, 2006" because Brian Leiter chose to omit Ohio State and Emory University School of Law (where Fairman was a visiting professor) from the list. (Leiter argued that without Fairman's article, neither school would be close to the top 15.)

Although Fairman's recent article has brought him some notoriety, his primary areas of focus are civil procedure and heightened pleading.

Selected publications

• "Why We Still Need a Model Rule for Collaborative Law: A Reply to Professor Lande," 22 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 707 (2007).
• "Fuck," 28 Cardozo L. Rev. 1711 (2007).
• "A Proposed Model Rule for Collaborative Law," 21 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 73 (2005).
• "House Follies," Legal Times, June 13, 2005, at 76
• "An Invitation to the Rulemakers – Strike Rule 9(b)," 38 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 281 (2004)
• "The Myth of Notice Pleading," 45 Ariz. L. Rev. 987 (2003)
• "No McJustice for the Fat Kids," Legal Times, Feb. 17, 2003, at 42
• "Ethics and Collaborative Lawyering: Why Put Old Hats on New Heads?," 18 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 505 (2003)
• "Heightened Pleading," 81 Tex. L. Rev. 551 (2002

External links

• "Fuck" by Christopher M. Fairman (abstract, forthcoming 2006)
• Brian Leiter Most Downloaded Law Faculties, 2006