In order to focus both the legal capacity and advisory role of the chief legal officer for the University "at the highest possible management level," President Edward M. Hundert is revising the structure of the University Attorney's Office and creating a new Office of Vice President and General Counsel.

The new vice president and general counsel will serve as a member of the President's Executive Cabinet and as a full-time member of the University's senior management team and will share responsibility for helping to shape the strategic initiatives designed to achieve the goals of the University's vision.

The Office of the Vice President and General Counsel will have a campus staff of full-time attorneys of varying specialties-the organization now common at most private research universities. The vice president and general counsel will report directly to the president.

Joel A. Makee has for the past 30 years held his position as University attorney on a half-time salary basis. He has provided legal services to the University with a combination of campus professional and staff assistance and additional support in specified areas of legal service from his law firm Taft, Stettinius & Hollister-formerly known as Kelley, McCann & Livingstone—along with other outside firms.

"Anyone at the University who has had contact with the University attorney's office over this long period knows the high quality of the legal service that Case Western Reserve University has had under Joel's leadership," Hundert said. "Like the presidents before me, I have come to appreciate the very fine counsel and advice that Joel and other members of his firm have provided.

"When Joel and I discussed the changes I wanted to make in the structure of the legal office, we discussed specifically the changing role and new direction I saw for the University's chief legal officer," the president continued. "On the basis of these discussions, Joel has advised me that he does not wish to be a candidate for the new position of vice president and general counsel, and he plans instead to return to his law practice at the Taft law firm."

A national search for the position of vice president and general counsel will commence immediately. Until the position is filled, the current structure of the University attorney's office will stay in place and Makee will report directly to the president.

"Jim Wagner and I have the utmost regard for and confidence in the legal advice that Joel and members of his firm, especially Colleen Treml and Christine Lewanski, have provided in the past and will provide during this period of transition," Hundert said. "We also intend and expect that the University continue to call upon Joel and his firm to provide continuing advice and service on a variety of legal matters after the transition."

Hundert said he has been engaged in discussions with Makee and Rhonda Gross, executive vice president and chief operating officer, about the primary legal responsibility and capability of the University since shortly after he arrived on campus. While considering various alternatives, upon final analysis, the three concluded the University needed to focus the both the legal capacity and advisory role of the chief legal officer.