Robert Iuliano named deputy general counsel

Gazette Staff Robert W. Iuliano ’83 has been named the University’s deputy general counsel. He replaces Robert Donin who left Harvard in August to take a position at Dartmouth.

An attorney in the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) since 1994, Iuliano has handled a broad range of legal matters including student affairs, tenure issues, scientific misconduct, federal investigations, police and security, labor and employment, intellectual property, and sponsored research.

As deputy general counsel, he will assume responsibility for the day-to-day management of the OGC, including the assignment of cases, supervision of outside counsel, and helping to plan the University’s long-term legal needs.

Anne Taylor, vice president and general counsel, said of Iuliano: “Bob is a superb lawyer and a great colleague. He brings energy, intelligence, and extremely good practical judgment to the resolution of legal problems. I am delighted that he was willing to take on the management responsibilities of the deputy general counsel. I could not have a better partner.”

Before coming to Harvard, Iuliano worked in the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, handling a broad variety of cases involving violations of federal drug, tax, fraud, money-laundering, and labor laws. Iuliano said that he found great satisfaction in this work, and, when the offer came to join the OGC, he felt a certain amount of ambivalence about leaving. That ambivalence left him after he took on the new position.

“I love what I do,” he said. “This is one of the few jobs left where you can have a broad-based practice and at the same time work for a highly ethical client. It’s a job that allows you to see all aspects of what Harvard is involved in and to help the University get where it wants to go. It’s been very fulfilling.”

Iuliano has been involved in the academic side of the University’s activities as well. For the past three years, he has taught a course in the Extension School titled “Introduction to Law,” which each year has attracted more than 100 students. The course provided a general overview of how the legal system operates, together with an introduction to basic legal areas such as tort law, contracts, civil procedure, and criminal law.

This year, he will teach a course at the Graduate School of Education titled “Higher Education and the Law,” aimed at students interested in the legal aspects of higher education administration.

Iuliano earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1983, with a senior honors thesis on “How Coalitions Are Built in Congress.” He went to the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was editor in chief of the Virginia Law Review. He earned his J.D. degree in 1986.

From 1986 to 1987, Iuliano worked as a judicial clerk to Chief Judge Levin H. Campbell, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. From 1987 to 1991, he was an associate in the litigation and employment departments of the Boston law firm Choate, Hall & Stewart.

Iuliano lives in Sudbury with his wife, Susan, and his two sons, Jeff, 9, and Ben, 5.