Purdue hires Steven R. Schultz as legal counsel

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University has hired its first in-house legal counsel to help the university better manage its legal function within the complex environment of a major public research university.

Effective Feb.1, Steven R. Schultz will join Purdue in the position of legal counsel. In this role, Schultz will advise the president and Board of Trustees on legal matters involving the university and oversee external legal work, review contracts and policies, and provide proactive advice and assistance on operations and programs. He will report directly to President Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. and the Board of Trustees. Trustees will formally ratify his appointment at the Feb. 8 board meeting.

A native of Indianapolis, Schultz has a bachelor's degree from Butler University and law degrees from Yale Law School and the University of Cambridge. He has worked as an attorney with two law firms and as chief legal counsel to Daniels when he was Indiana's governor. Schultz also has served as general counsel for Irwin Financial Corp. and as executive director of the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority. He currently is vice president and general counsel of Southeastern Indiana Health Organization and is concluding an engagement as special adviser to the state of Indiana on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

"Through this approach, we expect to identify opportunities to improve the way we procure and manage legal services and thereby realize certain risk management, oversight and cost savings benefits," Daniels said. Purdue was the only university in the Big Ten without a legal counsel on staff. In-house attorneys at other universities typically serve as the primary point of contact for their institutions' legal matters, including contract and transaction negotiations, litigation and legal risk management, and compliance with legal and policy requirements.

The Lafayette-based law firm of Stuart & Branigin has served as the university's lead counsel for more than 130 years and will continue to handle a significant portion of the university's outside legal work.