2018 2018: UMass Law students learn from the university’s “law firm”

UMass General Counsel’s office visits campus for a discussion about the public interest in advancing the university’s mission

University of Massachusetts General Counsel Gerry Leone, whose office represents the five-campus, 75,000-student, 15,000-employee university system, visited the UMass School of Law on November 8 with several members of his team to discuss higher education legal issues, ranging from intellectual property to labor relations to civil litigation.

“It is wonderful to see a natural partnership forming between UMass Law and the UMass General Counsel's Office, nurtured by Gerry Leone and several of the attorneys in his office,” said Eric Mitnick, Dean of UMass Law. “For our students, learning from and working with the talented lawyers in the General Counsel's Office is an unmatched opportunity."

“We had a great dialogue with dozens of UMass Law students,” Leone said. “I hope the students learned something about the many complex legal issues we face at the university. I know we were impressed with the students we met and inspired by their aspirations to use their future law degrees to advance the public good.”

Joining Leone for the discussion was:

• Alexandra Furth, Deputy General Counsel
• Carolina Avellaneda, Director Compliance & Governance/Strategic Counsel
• John Chayrigues, Associate General Counsel, Generalist
• Krista Stone, Associate General Counsel, Intellectual Property Specialist
• Dawna McIntyre, Associate General Counsel, Generalist
• Andrew Karberg, Associate Counsel, Compliance, Ethics, Export Controls & International Affairs

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) works within the Office of the President and supports the President, the Board of Trustees, the five Chancellors, and other University officers and employees. The OGC’s lawyers are generalists and specialists who handle all types of issues that affect higher education, including labor and employment; intellectual property (patent, trademark, copyright, and licensing); immigration and international affairs; litigation; governance and compliance; ethics; risk management; real estate; and commercial and contract law.

UMass Law students recently ranked third among the state’s nine law schools on bar exam pass rate, behind just Harvard and BU. One of seven UMass Dartmouth colleges, UMass Law was established in 2010 and earned national American Bar Association accreditation in 2016. Since its establishment, the school’s students have contributed more than 100,000 hours of pro bono legal services and community service to the Commonwealth.