Contact
201 Main Street Carbondale, CO 81623
(720) 316-8061
Bar Admissions
- State of Colorado
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Awards & Recognition
Professional Biography
Michael Fairhurst is the founding Partner of Fairlaw Colorado. Mr. Fairhurst has devoted his entire legal career to representing people whose rights have been violated. He has only represented people – and never corporations or other large entities – who have been subjected to abuses of power.
Mr. Fairhurst has extensive experience with issues ranging from police misconduct to prisoners’ rights to disability rights to employment discrimination and retaliation, and more.
Mr. Fairhurst previously worked as a partner with the Denver-based civil rights firm Killmer Lane, LLP. He founded that firm’s Western Slope office in 2021. Today, Mr. Fairhurst and his family live on Colorado’s Western Slope, where they are active members of the local community.
Geographical Coverage
Western Slope & Mountain Regions: Fairlaw Colorado represents people in civil rights and employment cases, along with criminal appeals, throughout the entire western part of Colorado, including all of its mountain regions. That includes but not limited to Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Aspen, Basalt, El Jebel, Parachute, New Castle, Rifle, Paonia, Palisade, Vail, Eagle, Avon, Breckenridge, Durango, Telluride, Gunnison, Crested Butte, Montrose, Ouray, Cortez, Steamboat Springs, Pagosa Springs, Buena Vista, Leadville, Salida, Meeker, Craig, and Hayden.
Front Range & Eastern Colorado: Fairlaw Colorado has an additional office in Denver. Fairlaw Colorado represents people in civil rights and employment cases, along with criminal appeals, in the Front Range region and eastern Colorado. Thus, the firm serves locations including but not limited to Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.
Education
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
Juris Doctor, May 2012
- Honors: Top 10% of third-year class
- Jurisprudence Award (Top student in class): First Amendment
- Prosser Prize (Second-place student in class): Business, Social Responsibility and Human Rights; Science and Regulatory Policy
- Activities: Member, Board of Advocates Appellate Advocacy Team (issue: trademark and product design); Senior Editor, Berkeley Journal of International Law; Student-Employer Liaison, American Constitution Society (Berkeley Law chapter)
- Volunteer Work: Community Legal Outreach (advising low-income clients on bankruptcy, workers’ compensation, and minor violations); Berkeley Law Foundation (fundraising and reviewing fellowship applications for underserved legal projects)
Williams College, Williamstown, MA
Bachelor of Arts, June 2007
- Honors: magna cum laude (top 15% of class) with honors in Political Science; Phi Beta Kappa; national finalist, Scoville Peace Fellowship
- Honors Thesis: Supreme Court’s relationship with foreign law
- Activities: Class representative, Campus Environmental Advisory Committee; representative, College Council; captain, College Cycling Club
Professional Associations
- Faculty of Federal Advocates, Board Member (2025 – Present)
- Colorado Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association, Board Member (2020 – Present)
- Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, Board Member (2017 – Present)
- Colorado Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association, Treasurer (2017 – 2019)
- Colorado Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association, Outreach Officer (2017)
Speaking Engagements
- "A Fireside Chat with U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Gallagher" (May 2025)
- "Defeating Claims of Qualified Immunity in Civil Rights Cases under Colorado and Federal Law" (February 2023)
- "Defeating Claims of Qualified Immunity in Civil Rights Cases" (October 2019)
- "Pleading and Proving Municipal Liability Claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983" (July 2017)