Pete concentrates his practice on serving private and public sector higher education institutions and academic medical centers in a wide array of litigation and counseling matters.
He advocates on behalf of educational institutions in court and agency proceedings, mediations and arbitrations. He also counsels on employment and student disputes, drafts policies and provides training and guidance to key personnel and students.
Clients rely on Pete’s extensive experience conducting sensitive internal investigations. He prepares confidential, privileged reports and assists decision-makers in addressing investigative findings in a variety of contexts, including board-mandated, sexual misconduct, athletic department, and scientific misconduct and non-compliance investigations.
Pete litigates employment discrimination and harassment cases, faculty terminations and tenure disputes, Title IX sexual assault claims, institutional governance issues, First Amendment disputes, student matters, school and program closings, noncompete agreement and trade secret disputes, and defamation and privacy issues. He has also counseled institutions on False Claims Act issues relating to scientific misconduct, accommodation and leave requests pursuant to the ADA and FMLA, privacy issues and compliance with FERPA, academic program closures and institutional affiliations, reductions in force, compliance with Title IX student discipline and gender equity standards, accreditation issues and investigations by the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights, the EEOC, and state and municipal administrative agencies.
Before joining the firm, Pete was co-chair of the Higher Education Practice Group at a mid-sized Chicago law firm and a partner in Babbitt, Land & Warner LLP, which focused on higher education legal services. He frequently presents at conferences, seminars and webinars on significant legal issues affecting higher education.