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The "#MeToo" Movement in Higher Education: Legal, Governance, and Public Relations Considerations

Speaker Biographies

Steve Coffin_Headshot
Throughout his career, Steve Coffin has specialized in developing and implementing strategies to help businesses, governmental entities and non-profits align themselves around strategy and vision and more effectively communicate and position themselves and their initiatives. He is a trusted counselor and advisor to his clients, helping them weather challenges and seize opportunities.

Steve brings a breadth of experience to his clients. Having been a lawyer at two of Denver’s most prominent law firms, an executive with one of Colorado’s leading energy companies and with the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, and a Congressional aide in Washington DC, he brings a unique combination of skills and experience to every challenge and opportunity his clients face. Steve has advised mayors, state cabinet officials, CEOs, directors and managers on how they and their organizations can become more effective and have greater impact. He is also known for his ability to develop coalitions and broker agreements on complex issues and for his expertise on water, transportation and infrastructure development issues.

Steve currently chairs the Aurora Economic Development Council, is a member of the Board of Governors of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, is an at-large member of the Jewish Community Relations Council and serves on the board of the Florence Crittenton school. In addition, he has held numerous other leadership positions in Colorado, including serving as co-chair of the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, co-chair of Governor Romer’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation, and as a board member of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, the Colorado Energy Assistance Foundation, and the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Anti-Defamation League.

Steve graduated with a B.A. from the University of Colorado and a J.D. with honors from the National Law Center at George Washington University.

  

Susan Friedfel Headshot

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Susan D. Friedfel is a Principal in the White Plains and New York, New York, offices of Jackson Lewis P.C. and Co-Head of the firm’s Higher Education group.   Susan has been representing colleges and universities for more than a decade and understands the unique challenges and nuanced issues facing colleges and universities today.  Susan actively provides advice and counsel relating to sexual misconduct issues, crafts sexual misconduct policies and procedures, trains investigators and adjudicators, and conducts investigations into reports of misconduct.  An experienced litigator, Susan regularly defends educational institutions in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies against claims by faculty, staff, and students relating to a variety of issues, including harassment, discrimination, failure to accommodate, Title IX athletics compliance, tenure disputes, and challenges to academic and disciplinary determinations.  Susan also provides day-to-day practical advice on matters such as employee recruiting and hiring practices; family and medical leave; reasonable accommodations for disabilities; preventing and investigating harassment, discrimination and whistleblower claims; performance management and discipline; and designing and implementing reductions-in-force.

 

  

Patrick O'Rourke Headshot final

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Patrick T. O'Rourke serves as Vice President, University Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Regents. Mr. O'Rourke has been with the University since 2005 and most recently served as Managing Senior Associate University Counsel for the University of Colorado's litigation office. In 2011, Mr. O'Rourke was one of three finalists for a vacancy on the Colorado Supreme Court, and has tried some of the University's highest-profile cases. Before joining the University of Colorado, Mr. O'Rourke was a director of the law firm Montgomery Little & McGrew, P.C., in Englewood, Colorado. Mr. O'Rourke has represented clients in a broad range of lawsuits, including employment law, civil rights, professional liability and product liability. In addition to his work in the trial courts, Mr. O'Rourke has substantial appellate experience and frequently served as appellate counsel for the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, The Colorado Medical Society and Copic Insurance Company. Mr. O'Rourke received his undergraduate degree from Creighton University and his law degree from The Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. O'Rourke is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of health care law, professional liability, legal ethics, and appellate practice. Mr. O'Rourke is a former member of the Colorado Bar Association's Ethics Committee.

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