Office of Legal Affairs :: University of Maryland

Legal Staff

Jack T. Roach, Exec. Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs and Chief Counsel
Diane Krejsa, Deputy Chief Counsel and Chief of Staff
Anne R. Bowden, University Counsel
Jen Gartner, University Counsel
Edward Maginnis, University Counsel
Carolyn Skolnik, University Counsel
Laura A. Wright, University Counsel
Jamie F. Weiler, Legal Advisor

Jack T. Roach, Executive Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs and Chief Counsel
email: troach@umd.edu

Terry Roach received a Juris Doctorate from Washington & Lee University (1970) and a baccalaureate from Lafayette College (1967).

Before representing the University of Maryland, Mr. Roach held a commission in the U.S. Army and served with the Staff Judge Advocate General Corps. In 1974, he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland, with responsibility for advising the University's Regents, President and Chancellors, and trying cases for each of the University's campuses and medical facilities.

He has concentrated primarily in Constitutional, civil rights and employment litigation, and has appeared before the Supreme Court on behalf of Maryland. Since 1977, Mr. Roach has served as on-campus counsel in the office of the President at College Park, and in 1995 was appointed as Executive Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs and the University's Chief Legal Counsel. He is responsible for the Office of Legal Affairs, and for advising the President and senior campus administrators in matters of law and policy. As Chief Counsel, he is a member of the President's Cabinet and Administrative Council.

Diane Krejsa, Deputy Chief Counsel and Chief of Staff
email: dkrejsa@umd.edu

Ms. Krejsa attended Brown University, and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1977. She received her Juris Doctorate in 1980 from New York University School of Law, where she served as Articles Editor on the Law Review.

Before assuming the position of Deputy Chief Counsel and Chief of Staff in June, 2012, she served as Senior University Counsel with the University for 16 years. Prior to joining the Office in 1996, Ms. Krejsa was a senior litigator with a private law firm in Baltimore, concentrating in civil litigation. She also served with distinction as an assistant attorney general in the Civil Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General between 1989 and 1994, where she was awarded an Excellence in Service award. Ms. Krejsa began her legal career at private law firms in New York City and New Jersey, concentrating in products liability and commercial litigation. She also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Office of the District Attorney of New York, where she prosecuted complex narcotics felonies and related crimes.

As Deputy Chief Counsel and Chief of Staff, Ms. Krejsa serves as the representative of the Chief Counsel, assigns case work to attorneys and staff, oversees the daily management of the Office, and provides legal advice to senior level administratorsand faculty, including the President, Vice Presidents, Deans, Department Chairs and Directors.

Ms. Krejsa's areas of concentration include labor and employment, academic freedom, constitutional, First Amendment, disability law and services, sexual harassment, civil rights, student issues and rights, campus governance, risk management, tenure and promotion, privacy, public records, university policy, and contracts.

University Counsel

University counsel provide assistance in all fields of law and university policy encountered in the academic and business life of the University. These include constitutional, civil rights, technology transfer, campus security, risk management, intellectual property, athletics and sports law, taxation, environmental law, ethics, real estate, construction, contracts, partnerships and business entities, procurement, sponsored research, torts, gifts/endowment, student issues and rights, and campus governance.

If you have an issue you would like to discuss with the Office of Legal Affairs, please contact Diane Krejsa at 301.405.4996 for referral to one of the following attorneys:

Anne R. Bowden, University Counsel
email: abowden@umd.edu

Ms. Bowden has degrees from Union College, Miami University, and the University of North Carolina, where she served on the law review as Executive Articles Editor and received her Juris Doctor with honors.

Before coming to the University in 1998, Ms. Bowden worked for ten years as a student affairs administrator at universities in Ohio, New York, and North Carolina; served as a law clerk in Federal District Court for the Chief Judge of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and was a civil litigator in private practice in the District of Columbia.

Ms. Bowden's areas of concentration include all facets of intellectual property, including copyright, trademarks, patent law and technology transfer; sponsored research (contracts and grants), responsible conduct of research, export control matters, environmental law, taxation, procurement, information technology issues such as cloud computing, online learning, international exchange agreements, and occupational health and safety.

Jen Gartner, University Counsel
email: jgartner@umd.edu

Ms. Gartner attended the University of Delaware (B.A., 1998); the George Washington University Law School (J.D., 2001), where she served as Senior Managing Editor of the Public Contract Law Journal; and Norwich University (M.P.A., 2005).

Before joining the University in April 2013, Ms. Gartner was the Director of Grants & Contracts and adjunct professor for the University of Colorado Denver's School of Public Affairs. She is trained as a government contracts attorney and has worked with military, aerospace, and nonprofit contractors for many years, first at the law firm of Morgan Lewis in Washington, DC, and later at the Space Science Institute, home to the NASA's Cassini Imaging Team, in Boulder, Colorado.

Ms. Gartner's areas of concentration includes all aspects of sponsored research agreements, including human subjects and animal welfare regulations, compliance issues, nondisclosure agreements, teaming agreements, conflicts of interest, and joint collaborations with other universities and organizations.

Edward J. Maginnis, University Counsel
email: maginnis@umd.edu

Mr. Maginnis attended The Johns Hopkins University (B.A., 1984) and The American University Washington College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1988). His area of concentration is real estate and commercial law. Prior to joining the University's legal office, Mr. Maginnis worked for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, where he worked on significant real estate development projects, as well as commercial litigation. Prior to that, in private practice, Mr. Maginnis' practice areas included real estate, leasing, public finance, bankruptcy, adult guardianship and commercial litigation.

Carolyn Skolnik, University Counsel
email: cskolnik@umd.edu

Ms. Skolnik has represented institutions of higher education for more than twenty-two years. She began her career as an attorney in the General Counsel’s Office of the Johns Hopkins University and later worked for several years as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

In 1993, she was appointed Assistant Attorney General in the Educational Affairs Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, later serving as Senior Counsel for Litigation and Acting Deputy for Litigation. While an Assistant Attorney General, she was counsel to Towson University, Bowie State University, and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. In addition, she successfully litigated on behalf of most of Maryland’s public higher education institutions in state and federal courts and before various administrative boards, and provided advice and counsel on issues as diverse as employment discrimination, athletics, faculty and student issues, ethics, and sponsored research.

In addition to her higher education work, Ms. Skolnik worked briefly as an Assistant City Solicitor in Worcester, Massachusetts and as an Assistant Attorney General for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. Ms. Skolnik is a native of Florida; she received her J.D. from the University of Florida's Levin College of Law in 1983, where she was appointed Articles Editor on the Law Review. She also holds a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Florida.

Laura A. Wright, University Counsel
email: landerso@umd.edu

Ms. Wright is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1991) and received her Juris Doctorate from Washington & Lee University School of Law (1994).

Before joining the University of Maryland in March 1995, Ms. Wright worked with the Alderson Federal Prison where she handled post-conviction/appellate relief matters and the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General, where she prosecuted juvenile felons. Immediately after law school, she served as an Admissions Recruiter/Counselor for Washington & Lee University.

Ms. Wright's portfolio includes student affairs, discrimination, including sexual harassment, legislative policy and regulatory compliance, residency classification, risk management and tort law, student rights and privacy matters, public records disclosures, contract review/negotiation and immigration law. She is also a certified mediator and engaging public speaker.

Jamie F. Weiler, Legal Advisor
email: jweiler@umd.edu

Ms. Weiler is a 2007 graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and received her Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School, magna cum laude, in 2011. While in law school, she clerked in the Office of Legal Affairs at the Ohio State University, and the Office of the District Attorney in Newport Beach, California. Ms. Weiler was the Editor in Chief of the Whittier Journal of Child and Family Advocacy, in addition to a member of Moot Court.

Prior to joining the University’s legal office in October 2012, Ms. Weiler worked as the Director of Contracting Services, at Brimstone Consulting, LLC, as well as with the litigation firm of Butters Brazilian, LLP, in Boston, Massachusetts.