Office of the General Counsel

The OGC is responsible for all the legal work arising from the activities of Harvard’s Faculties and departments. Our mission is to render timely and thoughtful advice on the broad range of legal issues that the University, its faculty, and administrators confront on behalf of the University.

⚠️Fraud Activity Alert⚠️

Fraudulent Activity by Persons Posing as Harvard Procurement Staff

(March 1, 2021) There has been an uptick in fraudulent Harvard purchase orders/requests that have been sent to external vendors, often with forged attachments. The purchase orders/requests fraudulently represent that they are coming from “Harvard Procurement” staff and often are inquiring about the purchase of branded marketing items (backpacks, water bottles, etc.) or asking vendors for sensitive tax information. While vendors have been reaching out to Harvard contacts to verify the legitimacy of orders, some vendors have experienced losses as a result of the scheme. 

A copy of the alert is available for review HERE.

Legal Services

Requests for legal assistance for University business should be directed to Bill MeyerJulie Faber, or Javier Guzman. In the event that these people are unavailable and the matter requires immediate attention, please contact any of the other legal professionals in the Office of the General Counsel.

Recent Developments

Client Advisory: Copyright Claims Board

December 12, 2022

In late 2020, Congress passed the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (CASE Act), which directed the Copyright Office to create a Copyright Claims Board (CCB) to hear copyright infringement claims. The CCB is intended to be a less expensive, user-friendly alternative to federal court. The CCB can hear claims of up to $30,000. The proceedings are entirely electronic and remote. Because the barriers to entry are much lower with the CCB than federal court, copyright holders may opt to file infringement claims with the CCB that they may not...

Read more about Client Advisory: Copyright Claims Board

2020: A Year of Advocacy in Review

January 4, 2021

2020 was unprecedented for many reasons, including that Harvard University saw the results of and participated both as a plaintiff and as a friend of the court in several lawsuits involving public policy issues of great importance to higher education. The matters below are reported in the order in which decisions were issued or cases were otherwise resolved.

... Read more about 2020: A Year of Advocacy in Review

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