A Primer on the Role of the University’s Attorney

This article is a discussion of the role of the University Counsel (sometimes called the General Counsel) as “adviser, officer, administrator, and agent” in the university setting. The article discusses the nature of the “fiduciary duty” in university governance and describes several of the substantive areas of the law with which the University Counsel must become familiar: faculty employment and tenure discussions; share governance; sponsored research; student rights; and the many issues relating to college athletics.