Sharon Fairley

Sharon Fairley is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and has taught at the Law School since 2015. She became a professor from practice in 2019. Prof. Sharon's teaching responsibilities include criminal procedure, legal ethics, and public corruption.  

Before joining the Law School, Prof. Sharon spent eight years as a federal prosecutor with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, investigating and trying criminal cases involving illegal firearms possession, narcotics conspiracy, bank robbery/murder, murder for hire and economic espionage, among other criminal acts. Prof. Sharon also served as the first deputy inspector general and general counsel for the City of Chicago Office of the Inspector General. In December 2015, following the controversial officer-involved shooting death of Laquan McDonald, she was appointed to serve as the Chief Administrator of the Independent Police Review Authority, the agency responsible for police misconduct investigations. She was also responsible for creating and building Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability.  

Prior to law school, Prof. Sharon held various positions in marketing management advising multi-national corporations on some of America's most cherished consumer brands.