General University Investigations.
Overview.
We provide proven, effective and timely service to campus leadership, working under the attorney-client privilege of your general counsel or outside counsel.
Our team of specialized investigators can respond to: white collar/financial matters, allegations of personal or professional misconduct, collection of evidence and testimony in support of litigation, and systems or process reviews.
Members of the BartlettJames, LLC team have over 35 years’ experience working within the office of general counsel in large university settings. This includes over 20 years’ experience as general counsel of these institutions. We know and understand the unique challenges of conducting investigations in a university setting, including the sometimes complicating nature of state public records laws. We are experienced in working with university counsel to privilege investigations when appropriate. Most critically, we understand the unique nature of the university setting, faculty privileges and responsibilities, and the necessary sensitivity and discretion that must accompany any investigation at a university or college. This includes personnel, financial, and other matters that represent potential liability for an institution. We are competitively priced, and we understand and value the need for thorough and expeditious investigations.
Bringing Decades of Experience and Inside Knowledge to Higher Education Investigations
Every institution of higher education has its own identity and culture, with many constituents, including students, faculty, and staff as well as parents and alumni. These constituents contribute to and support campus culture through active and vibrant institutional dynamics, manifested in academic and social interactions, athletics, student associations, and more.
Given the interconnected components comprising an institution, allegations and investigations often have the potential to affect multiple units, if not all, of the institution as well as its reputation.
At BartlettJames, we understand and value the need for expeditious and accurate investigations in light of the significant impact that allegations may have in a higher education setting. Our team has over 35 years of experience as general counsel and associate general counsel at large public and private universities. We are experienced in conducting both large and small-scale, high-profile investigations for universities. We are uniquely familiar with the nature of a college campus and the imperative to understand your institution’s policies and priorities. We also are well-acquainted with the federal laws and regulations under which educational institutions must operate. Our investigative services are detailed, fast, competitively priced, and sensitive to the need for discretion.
If your organization is facing the need for an investigation, contact our team to learn more about how we can assist. We are available on short notice.
University and College Investigative Services: How We Help.
When a college or university comes under public or internal scrutiny for alleged wrong-doing, the pressure is on the institution to prove itself rigorous in obtaining the underlying facts and determining an appropriate course of action based on those facts. The fact-gathering process must be sensitive to the needs of students and faculty and staff members, and at the same time it must adhere to institutional policies and legal requirements. Even the most committed institutions with proactive compliance training may experience allegations of misconduct or serious deviations from policy or practice, and our team is here to assist if the need for an independent investigation arises.
The BartlettJames team brings an in-depth understanding of the regulatory and legal requirements and societal pressures faced by colleges and universities today. Our investigative services are suitable and available for large and small colleges and universities. We are available to investigate misconduct allegations, whistleblower claims, and any other situation that requires a rapid and thorough understanding of the underlying facts. BartlettJames can conduct the following:
- Misconduct investigations. BartlettJames is available to conduct investigations concerning a wide range of issues and allegations, including Title IX complaints, academic misconduct allegations, Title VII claims, NCAA regulation issues, research misconduct claims, and other alleged breaches of contract, illicit behavior, and violations of institutional policy.
- Internal compliance investigations. Fact-based inquiries can assist educational institutions in identifying compliance issues that are often otherwise difficult to ascertain without experienced investigative assistance. Examples of such areas of inquiry include NCAA compliance in athletics departments, Title IX compliance, Clery Act compliance, and the protection of research data and technology.
- Background investigations. Our background work begins where other services finish. We go beyond public, commercially available records and investigate otherwise private matters, such as past Title IX allegations, to discern the suitability of new faculty and athletics hires such as head coaches and athletics directors.
Our team is highly responsive and equipped to assist on short notice. If you have questions about our investigative services, don’t hesitate to contact us as soon as possible.
Team.
James P. Pottorff, Jr.
Director, Higher Education OperationsJim is our Higher Education Team Leader and a member of the BartlettJames Executive Committee.
James P. Pottorff, Jr..
One of the original and most influential leaders of our company, his education, guidance, and general counsel background and expertise were critical in our initial development and will continue to be so in our efforts to serve the nation’s higher education community.
Jim has over 30 years’ experience providing legal advice and counsel to complex organizations, including over 20 years’ combined service as the General Counsel for the University of Kansas and subsequently for the University of Nebraska. As such, he served as the principal legal advisor to the universities’ chief executive officers and other senior administrators. Both universities are comprehensive research universities with academic medical centers and student populations ranging from 28,000 to 51,000 on multiple university campuses. Faculty and staff employees ranged from 7,000 to 16,000. His duties included supervision of 10 or more attorneys and support staff and responsibility for legal advice on all university operational matters, including investigations covering student affairs, labor and employment matters, Title IX compliance, and intercollegiate athletics.
Prior to his university career, Jim was a career Army officer. His 25-plus years in in the Army were served primarily in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where he was promoted to the rank of Colonel. He served as the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) for the 10th Mountain Division and Ft. Drum, New York, where he had a staff of 21 attorneys and more than 50 support personnel to assist more than 10,500 soldiers and 2,000 civilian employees. He also served as the Deputy SJA for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York providing legal services that included employment law, sexual harassment law, labor law, student discipline, intercollegiate athletics, and intellectual property law, as well as advice and oversight on investigations for staff and students. He has held above top secret security clearances and been involved in sensitive investigations during his career.
Jim is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York with a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering. He is also a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law where he was the Articles Editor of the Kansas Law Review and a member of Moot Court Council. Jim earned an M.A. degree in national security and strategic studies, with highest distinction, from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and he holds an LL.M., with distinction, in Administrative Law from The Judge Advocate General’s School, U.S. Army, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Finally, in addition to graduating from the resident course of the Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, he earned an M.A. degree in human resource management from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.
Margaret Person Currin
Margaret has conducted countless Title IX investigations. The wisdom and experienced she earned during her highly-distinguished career routinely proves invaluable to our higher education clients. She enjoyed more than 30 years of service as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, as a renown legal educator and law school administrator, and as a staff member for a United States Senator. She has also served on multiple boards of directors and engaged in a private law practice representing clients before state and federal administrative agencies. Margaret is based in North Carolina.
Margaret Person Currin.
Margaret has conducted countless Title IX investigations. The wisdom and experienced she earned during her highly-distinguished career routinely proves invaluable to our higher education clients. She enjoyed more than 30 years of service as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, as a renown legal educator and law school administrator, and as a staff member for a United States Senator. She has also served on multiple boards of directors and engaged in a private law practice representing clients before state and federal administrative agencies. Margaret is based in North Carolina.
For more than 30 years, Margaret served the Campbell University School of Law in myriad capacities. She taught a wide variety of subjects with immediate relevance to clients of BartlettJames, while also serving as the Associate Dean for Academic, Student and Administrative Affairs, as an Assistant Dean for External Relations, and as the founding Director of Campbell’s nationally-recognized Externship Program. Margaret has served as lead investigator in numerous Title IX investigations for numerous university clients. Likewise, she has presented Title IX educational programs to several higher education clients. She has also conducted specialized investigations into matters involving the sexual mistreatment of minors.
Of significant note, Margaret was appointed by the President, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina for five years—a position as the chief federal attorney for civil and criminal matters in 44 out of the 100 counties in North Carolina. Subsequent to that position, she has continued her federal work by serving in the National Association of Former United States Attorneys (NAFUSA) for the past three decades, including several terms on its Board of Directors and all the offices in its leadership chain, culminating with President in 2003-2004.
In addition to her work in legal education and as a United States Attorney, Margaret has also served for the past ten years on the North Carolina Rules Review Commission, including stints as the Chairman and First Vice-Chairman. The Rules Review Commission is the state agency created by the General Assembly to review and approve rules adopted by State of North Carolina agencies. She further serves or has served on multiple Boards of Directors for the North Carolina Bar Association and the Wake County Bar Association/10th Judicial District Bar, while also serving on and chairing the Wake County Board of Elections. In recognition of her exemplary service to the State of North Carolina and her community, Margaret was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the most prestigious award conferred by the Governor of North Carolina.
Margaret received her undergraduate education at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and graduated, with Honors, from the Campbell University School of Law, currently in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she was a member of the Campbell University Law Review Editorial Board. Margaret also has engaged in graduate legal studies at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.
Peter J. Paukstelis
Pete provides guidance on all matters pertaining to collegiate athletics. Pete has more than 25 years of diversified experience representing a wide array of corporate, institutional, and individual clients in a host of different litigation and transactional matters. Pete is based in North Carolina.
Peter J. Paukstelis.
Pete provides guidance on all matters pertaining to collegiate athletics. Pete has more than 25 years of diversified experience representing a wide array of corporate, institutional, and individual clients in a host of different litigation and transactional matters. Pete is based in North Carolina.
Following law school and before entering the world of intercollegiate athletics, Pete was engaged in private practice in both big firms and a solo practice. While working as an associate at Stinson, Mag & Fizzell (now Stinson LLP) in Kansas City, and later as a senior associate at Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles, Pete represented many large corporations and his litigation practice was diverse and included matters such as employment discrimination, oil and gas explosions, commercial litigation, and theft of trade secrets. Pete also managed a successful solo practice focused on plaintiff’s employment discrimination and personal injury litigation. He personally investigated and built hundreds of plaintiff’s cases, including those involving child abuse, sexual assault and harassment, and discrimination based on race, color, sex, age, disability, and pregnancy. Pete never lost a case on a motion to dismiss, a motion for summary judgment, or at trial as a solo practitioner.
Pete served as Associate General Counsel at Kansas State University, in Manhattan, Kansas, for 11 years. His practice focused on intercollegiate athletics, Title IX, Title VII, the ADA, and complex transactional work. He guided hundreds of internal discrimination investigations and regularly provided training for internal investigators. Pete also successfully defended discrimination claims, including disability and sex discrimination matters. He has been a repeat guest speaker for an intercollegiate athletics class at Columbia University’s Sports Management program, and he has presented at the National Association of College and University Attorney’s national conference on Title IX matters. Pete continues to work in intercollegiate athletics.
Pete graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Biology. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
A Client-Focused Approach to Investigating for Educational Institutions.
Educational institutions are not required to offer informal resolution options, but doing so can create a restorative opportunity for the parties to process their grievances and collaborate toward a resolution that is satisfactory to all.
The BartlettJames team is nationally recognized and has conducted large-scale, high-profile investigations for colleges and universities. We operate with the client in mind as we conduct exceptionally thorough, discrete, and timely investigations.
Work with BartlettJames, a Team of Leaders in Higher Education & Administrative Law Proceedings
Members of the BartlettJames team have over 35 years experience working within the office of general counsel and a collective 80+ years of judicial experience in administrative and criminal law proceedings. Our first-hand experience as general counsel, attorneys, and investigators enables our team to provide highly effective services that bring objectivity and clarity to disputes in educational institutions.
We are acquainted with and can anticipate the unique challenges of conducting investigations in a university setting, including navigating state public records laws. Most critically, we understand faculty privileges and responsibilities, and the necessary sensitivity and discretion that must accompany any investigation at a university or college. This includes personnel, financial, and other matters that represent potential liability for an institution.
When educational institutions need the most accurate, robust, and sensitive investigations, BartlettJames can deliver.
If you are seeking investigative services that are competitively priced and complimentary of your institution’s efforts, reach out to us today.
