Introduction
Richard Fair is an Assistant Professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law where he teaches Lawyering Skills I and II. His scholarship has appeared in or is forthcoming in the Berkeley Business Law Journal, Michigan Technology Law Review, and the American University Business Law Review, among others.
Fair’s scholarship examines the intersection of constitutional law, financial regulation, and emerging technology. His research considers how legal institutions respond to decentralized finance, digital assets, artificial intelligence, and other technologically mediated markets that challenge traditional regulatory categories. Drawing on both doctrinal analysis of U.S. law and a multifaceted background as a historian, Fair situates contemporary legal disputes within broader institutional, constitutional, financial, and historical contexts.
Fair grew up in Texas and received a B.A. in History and Political Science from Baylor University, an M.A. in American History with distinction from Baylor University, and a J.D. with Dean’s List recognition from Texas A&M University School of Law. While studying at Baylor, he was a Mayo-McBride Scholar that studied American Civil War and early twentieth-century legal history under Dr. T. Michael Parrish and worked with the Baylor University Institute of Oral History to preserve legal history in McLennan County, Texas.
Before joining St. Thomas, Fair was a Lecturer at Indiana University Bloomington, where he taught Business Law and Business/Legal Ethics. He was previously a Lecturer at the University of North Texas, where he taught Business Law, Business/Legal Ethics, and Estate Planning. Before these academic appointments, he practiced law in Lubbock, Texas, focusing on small and family-owned businesses, business formations, estate planning, federal and state tax controversy, and trust administration. In that capacity, he worked to expand education and practical knowledge about the Texas series limited liability company model among Texas real estate investors.
Fair is also an active public historian and has taught in higher education for more than fifteen years, with courses spanning American history, world history, Western civilization, Texas history, American government, Texas government, and constitutional law.