嘿嘿视频

Chief Campus Counsel Steve Drown to return to UC Office of General Counsel

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Photo: Steve Drown
Photo: Steve Drown

Steve Drown, who has served 嘿嘿视频 as chief campus counsel for more than 16 years, is headed for Oakland to rejoin the UC Office of General Counsel.

Drown

Drown has been named UC鈥檚 new deputy general counsel for educational affairs and campus services. He will handle student and faculty issues and work in support of and in coordination with the 10 campus counsel offices in the UC system. Drown, who will report to General Counsel Charles Robinson, also will supervise the educational affairs and campus services unit. His last day on the Davis campus will be Feb. 1, and he will start in Oakland on April 1.

鈥淪teve has been a valued counsel who has offered sage advice to our campus for more than 16 years,鈥 Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi said. 鈥淗is extensive on-campus experience will serve the UC system and each of its campuses well in the years to come. I look forward to working with Steve for many years to come.鈥

Before coming to 嘿嘿视频 in September 1996, Drown had worked in the general counsel鈥檚 office as an environmental attorney for seven-and-a-half years.

His return to Oakland comes at a time when the chancellor has announced plans to reorganize the Office of the Campus Counsel and hire a new chief campus counsel. In a letter to the campus last month, Katehi wrote that she would be making changes to better accommodate evolving needs, including 鈥渁dditional expertise and experience in negotiating research and service agreements with a diverse business community (and) broader experience dealing with a variety of increasingly complex political entities.鈥

The chancellor鈥檚 primary goal with the reorganization is to reduce the campus鈥檚 overall legal expenditures.

鈥淭he fewer in-house counsel we have, the more we have to rely on more expensive outside counsel for legal transactions that could be handled internally at a much lower cost,鈥 Katehi wrote in a Jan. 7 response to an open letter from Scott C. Shershow, chair of the Davis Faculty Association.

Under the chancellor鈥檚 original reorganization plan, a new chief campus counsel was to be hired. Drown was to continue to offer a wide range of legal advice in the new role of deputy campus counsel, where he was to focus on issues relating to the Davis campus.

In her letter to Shershow, the chancellor wrote that the addition of one new attorney position in the Office of the Campus Counsel 鈥渨ill more than pay for itself through the additional risk management services that will be provided to the campus.鈥

With Drown鈥檚 announced departure, the chancellor鈥檚 focus will be on recruiting the new chief campus counsel to join Senior Campus Counsel Mike Sweeney 鈥 who will serve as interim chief campus counsel after Drown steps down 鈥 and thus maintain today鈥檚 staffing level of two attorneys. For comparison, UC Berkeley and UCLA each have four attorneys in their main campus counsel offices.

Katehi pointed out that during the past 12 years the size of the Davis campus鈥檚 legal office has remained the same while the Davis campus population of students, staff and faculty has grown by more than 20 percent, with substantial growth in personnel matters, complaints and investigations. In addition, during the same period, research activity has increased dramatically, from $269 million in 2000 to $750 million in 2012, triggering a corresponding increase in research-related legal issues.

Looking forward, the chancellor said, it will be important to have the new chief campus counsel in place before she and other campus leaders reevaluate the campus鈥檚 legal services set-up, to take into account the new counsel鈥檚 experience and skill set.

The new chief counsel will report jointly to the chancellor and the general counsel in Oakland. A recruitment process has been initiated, and the recruitment committee comprises five representatives of 嘿嘿视频 and five representatives of the Office of the General Counsel. The chancellor expects the national recruitment to conclude in late spring.

Read the chancellor's entire to the from the Davis Faculty Association.

Media Resources

Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu

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