John Palfrey

Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law
Vice Dean, Library and Information Resources, Harvard Law School
Faculty Co-Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society

As Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, John’s work focuses on Internet law, intellectual property, and the potential of new technologies to strengthen democracies locally and around the world.  As Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources, he directs the Harvard Law School Library and co-chairs the school's IT committee.  John has been a Visiting Professor of Information Law and Policy at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland for the 2007-2008 academic year.  He is also chairing the Internet Safety Technical Task Force during 2008.

John came to the Berkman Center from the law firm Ropes & Gray, where he worked on intellectual property, Internet law, and private equity transactions. John is a co-founder of several technology companies. He also served as a Special Assistant at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration. While attending Harvard Law School, John worked at the Berkman Center, was a Teaching Fellow in Internet Law, and served as an editor of the Harvard Environmental Law Review.

Outside of his Berkman Center work, he is a venture executive at Highland Capital Partners. He is on the board of several new media companies, including Top Ten Media, Newsilike Media Group, Noank Media, and My Virtual Model and is an adviser to StyleFeeder and CrowdSprout. He is a fellow of the British-American Project. He serves on the Board of Directors of the non-profit Mass2020 Foundation and is an adviser to Scoop08.

John graduated from Harvard College, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard Law School. He was a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar to the University of Cambridge and the U.S. EPA Gold Medal (highest national award). John is admitted to the New York and Massachusetts bars.