In search of justice

JD/MELP’10
Tim Fair
ADDICT TO ATTORNEY
TIMOTHY FAIR WAS LEADING A DOUBLE
life. He earned accolades and
praise as a student at Montpelier’s
Woodbury College, but begged out of class
early to go home and get high. Fair was
addicted to cocaine.
It all came to a head in 2004, when he was
arrested on possession of cocaine. He was
facing a felony charge. “I thought my life was
over,” says Fair. In fact, it became a turning
point. “If I hadn’t been arrested that night,
I most likely would be dead. I was incapable
of quitting.”
What followed was a series of what
Fair considers lucky breaks—a lenient
judge who believed in second chances, an
understanding probation officer, a lawyer
who negotiated the right plea deal. The
felony disappeared, replaced by three
consecutive misdemeanors. Fair spent six
weeks in prison, several of those at a work
camp, and then spent the next year getting
clean. And though no one could guarantee
he’d pass the bar’s character assessment, he
set out to become a lawyer.
His passion now is litigation, specifically
criminal defense. As an associate at
Burlington practice Blodgett, Watts & Volk,
Fair sums up his job as part social worker.
Outside of work, he’s passionate about
advocating for criminal justice reform.
“I’m a living example of second chances,”
says Fair. “It allows me to not judge a
person based on a limited set of actions.
Just because somebody breaks the law,
because somebody does something we would
consider horrible or evil, that doesn’t define
a person.”
Dave Barnum