Fairbrother, who is commonly known by his middle name,[1] was born into a truck driving family and raised in the Wairarapa town of Carterton.

Before entering politics, Fairbrother was a lawyer for twenty-three years, having obtained an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington.

In 1994 he successfully defended a murder accused in what has come to be regarded as the world's first Post Traumatic Stress Disorder defence; this case has since formed the basis of a novel by celebrated author Sir James McNeish – "The Crime of Huey Dunstan" published in 2010.

He was also elected chair of the Labour back bench committee and appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Attorney General.

[3] He successfully secured acquittals in the high-profile murder cases of Zion King,[4] and Wilson Apatu, who had shot a man four times in front of his family, killing him, before carjacking a couple at knifepoint.