David Fagundes
Associate Professor of Law
A.B., summa cum laude, History, 1996, Harvard College; J.D., cum laude, 2001, Harvard Law School; Phi Beta Kappa; Member, California State Bar
Email:
Phone: 213-738-6783
Room: BW323
David Fagundes' interest in the law grew out of his study of medieval legal history at Harvard College. As an undergraduate, he received the Philip Washburn Prize for best senior history thesis, the William Scott Ferguson Award for best sophomore essay, and the Department of History Award for best overall record as a history concentrator. He remained at Harvard for law school, where he served as an articles editor of the Harvard Law Review.
After law school, Professor Fagundes clerked for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and then worked as an associate at Jenner & Block LLP for two years in Washington, D.C. His time in Washington included a leave from practice to be a Visiting Research Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. In 2005, Professor Fagundes joined the University of Chicago Law School as a Bigelow Fellow and Lecturer in Law, where he spent two years developing his own scholarship while teaching the first year legal research and writing course.
Professor Fagundes' research and teaching interests cover a variety of property law issues, including copyright, real property and land use. "The notion of property is ancient, but it has undergone profound changes in recent years," he said. "Examining different subject matter - real estate, chattels, copyrights, or patents - forces us to ask foundational questions about what property is, both as a social institution and a legal idea." His current research concerns the relationship between tangible and intangible property, and in particular whether rules governing physical property can provide a template for thinking about intellectual property as well.
Professor Fagundes was appointed to the Southwestern faculty commencing Fall 2007. Originally from the Pomona Valley, he is glad to return to Southern California and looks forward to being in Los Angeles - and at Southwestern in particular - where the profession and legal education are "on the cutting edge of developments in intellectual property and entertainment law."
