David Ardia is an associate professor of law at the UNC School of Law and serves as the faculty co-director of the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy. He also holds a secondary appointment as an assistant professor at the UNC School of Media and Journalism. Before joining the UNC faculty, he was a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University where he founded and directed the Berkman Center’s Digital Media Law Project. Prior to his time at Harvard, Professor Ardia was assistant counsel at The Washington Post, where he provided pre-publication review and legal advice on First Amendment, news gathering, privacy, intellectual property, and general business issues.
Professor Ardia served as a law clerk for Judge Conrad Cyr on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and for Judge Thomas McAvoy on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. After clerking, he practiced law at Williams & Connolly in Washington, DC, where he handled a range of intellectual property and media litigation. While at Williams & Connolly, he also performed pre-publication libel review for the National Enquirer and In Touch Weekly.
Professor Ardia is a former member of the Newspaper Association of America’s Legal Affairs Committee and is a current member of the Online News Association’s Legal Advisory Board and the First Amendment and Media Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association. Since 2011, Professor Ardia has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools’ Mass Communication Law Section and previously served as chair of the section. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, and the United States Supreme Court.
Professor Ardia’s research focuses on examining the impact of new information technologies on law and society, particularly the role that government and private intermediaries play in shaping the environment for speech and how legal and social forces affect these actors. He is also an affiliated faculty member of the UNC Center for Law, Environment, Adaptation, and Resources. He teaches Torts, Media Law, Media and Internet Law Practicum, and Internet Law.