University hires White House lawyer to oversee legal offices

The University hired a new top lawyer who will oversee Penn's two separate legal offices and report directly to University President Judith Rodin, officials announced Friday. Peter Erichsen, currently an associate counsel for President Clinton, will assume the newly created position of vice president and general counsel of the University and the University Health System, effective December 8. "I think it's going to be a great, challenging job," said Erichsen, 41, who described the issues facing higher education as "tremendously interesting." Erichsen's only prior experience in higher education was in handling some investment transactions for Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., while he worked for the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray. Erichsen will be chief legal adviser to Rodin, Health System Chief Executive Officer William Kelley, the Health System and the University Board of Trustees. He will also oversee the Office of the General Counsel, which has about six attorneys, and the 12-attorney Health System legal office. Health System Chief Counsel Thomas Tammany said he hopes Erichsen's appointment "will only make my life better." "Health care is a highly regulated industry," Tammany said. "There are legislative changes going on at the federal and state level very frequently." Erichsen's experience "being an insider at the White House" as well as working for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington "will be a tremendous asset to us," Tammany added. But when asked whether he believed Erichsen's new position was necessary, Tammany responded that "it's not really my call to make." Green, who has been Penn's general counsel for more than a decade, said she meets regularly with Tammany. The two offices "have excellent communications" between them but "no formal reporting relationship," she said. "I think [Erichsen's appointment is] a very good move, and I'm looking forward to working with him," Green said. Erichsen said he has not yet been briefed on specific legal matters facing the University. Penn is facing lawsuits in U.S. District Court over an alleged 1994 rape, the April 1997 closing of a local video arcade and the University's recent plan to outsource facilities management, among others. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1981, Erichsen worked at Ropes & Gray for 12 years, primarily in corporate law. He then took a position at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington handling judicial appointments. For the past year, he has been at the White House coordinating the appointment of federal judges and Clinton's Cabinet selections. Rodin was unavailable for comment yesterday. Kelley did not return a telephone call for comment.

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