Office of Legal Counsel—Staff Updates and New Matter Intake Process
Office of Legal Counsel
To: Executive Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts, Vice Chancellors, Deans, Directors and Heads of Schools, Divisions, Departments and Offices
From: Steven R. Schultz, General Counsel
Date: March 5, 2019
Re: Office of Legal Counsel—Staff Updates and New Matter Intake Process
Colleagues:
The purpose of this memo is to share some recent developments in the Office of Legal Counsel and to request your assistance with a new matter intake process we have established.
Congratulations to Adrian Allen. I am pleased to report that Adrian has been promoted to Senior Associate Counsel for the University. Since joining Purdue five years ago, Adrian has played a key role in some of our most innovative and groundbreaking projects, including the Honors College and Residences, the State Street Redevelopment Project, and most recently the Third Street North and Meredith South Student Residences. In addition to serving as counsel to these project teams, Adrian was instrumental in the legislative initiatives that led to the ability of Purdue (and all state universities) to use flexible alternative delivery methods for these types of projects. Adrian also provided invaluable service in laying the groundwork for the Discovery Park District and the transformational town-gown relationship with the City of West Lafayette, having served as a member (and recently as president) of the interlocal joint board established between the University and the City.
Adrian will continue to serve as the University’s key legal advisor in the areas of facilities and finance.
Welcome Jonas Burgett. Jonas Burgett has joined the Office of Legal Counsel as Associate Counsel for University Partnerships and Digital Education. In this role, Jonas will advise Purdue Online and Purdue University Global on transactional, intellectual property and legal and regulatory compliance issues associated with their activities. Jonas will also support Purdue Research Foundation, the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships, and the Office of Sponsored Program Services on strategic alliances and other transactional matters.
A graduate (with highest distinction) of Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the College of Engineering, Jonas obtained his law degree from the University of Chicago, where he was editor of the law review. After a successful stint in private practice, Jonas owned, operated and served as general counsel for a highly respected early childhood education company for nearly twenty years before returning to the practice of law. He now occupies Amanda Redick’s former office in Hovde (Room 224). Please join me in welcoming Jonas when you get the opportunity.
New Matter Intake Process. Consistent with our core values, the Office of Legal Counsel strives for a pragmatic and proactive approach when supporting and advising our internal clients. As the smallest legal office in the Big Ten (and possibly among all our peers nationally), we look for ways to maintain our effectiveness and responsiveness—an increasingly important task in light of the expanding scope and reach of our services around the University these past six years.
To this end, we have developed a new matter intake process based on the Qualtrics form found at this link, which will be posted on the OLC website landing page. Please note that use of this brief questionnaire is intended to replace email communications with OLC attorneys as the primary means of requesting assistance from us on new legal matters.
I would be grateful if you would take moment to review this form, share it with the members of your team, and encourage its use going forward. Doing so will allow us to be more efficient in the manner in which we record, track, staff, and manage the legal matters we handle on your behalf. You’ll see that the questions it prompts are few, straightforward, and easily navigable.
In making this request, I recognize, on behalf of Trent, Adrian, Monica and Jonas, that a large part of our effectiveness and perceived value is our ready accessibility. Please note that this new process is not intended to impede your ability to reach out to any one of us with a one-off question or bit of advice that you anticipate will only take a few minutes.
However (and even if you have an established working relationship with a particular OLC attorney on a given topic), we would ask you to use this form in lieu of sending an email whenever requesting formal assistance on a given matter.
If desired, Trent or I would be happy to meet with you and your staff members at your convenience to discuss the purpose and benefits of this new approach. Thanks as always for your cooperation.