Welcome of the Office of General Counsel

The mission of the Office of General Counsel is to serve as trusted legal advisors, advocates, counselors, and problem solvers for Iowa State University.  We help our university partners across campus to develop sound legal approaches to advance the land-grant ideas of putting science, technology, and human creativity to work to lead the global quest for solutions. We proactively and collaboratively work with administrators, faculty, staff, and students to anticipate potential legal problems and address actual ones. We provide university decision-makers with knowledge of the law so that they can make sound decisions, and we work with them to guard the university’s reputation and financial interests. We accomplish our mission with a commitment to being practical, ethical, professional, collaborative, timely, efficient, responsive, and creative in serving the university.

Important Notice:

The material contained on this site is provided for informational purposes for the faculty, staff and students of Iowa State University. Nothing contained on this site and its related links may be construed as legal advice from our office on a given matter. Members of the University community should consult with our office directly on specific legal issues or matters.

The Office of General Counsel does not provide personal legal advice. Students needing personal legal advice should consult with Student Legal Services in Room B11, Memorial Union (515) 294-0978. Employees and members of the general public needing personal legal assistance may contact the Iowa State Bar Association at 1-800-532-1108.

The Office of General Counsel serves as legal counsel for Iowa State University. Specifically, we provide legal advice to university administrators and managers; assistance in drafting or reviewing contracts and other legal documents; assistance in drafting or reviewing university policies, guidelines and procedures; representation of university units in internal administrative proceedings; representation in matters pending before state and federal agencies; information about legal rules being considered for adoption by the Board of Regents affecting Iowa State University; assistance with securing of specialized legal expertise for university departments; coordination with, and support of, the Iowa Department of Justice or private counsel handling university matters in litigation; as well as training programs related to legal issues.