Timothy G. Lynch, deputy general counsel for litigation and enforcement with the U.S. Department of Energy, has been named as the next vice president and general counsel of U-M.
The appointment, approved Nov. 15 by the Board of Regents, is effective Jan. 7, 2013.
Lynch succeeds Suellyn Scarnecchia, who stepped down from her position May 31 to return to the faculty at the Law School.
“I look forward to the leadership, depth of experience, and vision that Mr. Lynch will bring to the University as vice president and general counsel,” Coleman said in a recommendation to the regents. “The Board of Regents and I are deeply committed to maintaining a well-respected and superior office of general counsel for the university, and we are very confident that Mr. Lynch will excel in managing this area.”
The vice president and general counsel is responsible for the university’s legal affairs. He will set strategic direction, serve as senior legal counsel to the Board of Regents, university administration and university units, supervise the professional legal staff, and manage relationships with outside counsel.
“I’m proud to receive the support of the Board of Regents and President Coleman, and I look forward to representing the university,” Lynch said.
Lynch also served as the acting general counsel with the U.S. Department of Energy from Dec. 2011 through April 2012.
Before joining the Department of Energy, Lynch was an assistant chief litigation counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions (2009-10), where he litigated nationwide securities and fraud enforcement actions.
Prior to joining to SEC, Lynch served for seven years as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. There he was a senior prosecutor in the Fraud and Public Corruption Section.
Lynch began his legal career in 1995 as a law clerk to the Honorable Cornelia G. Kennedy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th District Court and thereafter joined the Washington, D.C., law firm of Shea & Gardner, which is now part of the law firm Goodwin Procter, from 1996-2002.
Lynch also is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches evidence, and the University of Virginia Law School, where he teaches courses on white collar crime.
Lynch received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester in 1990 and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. While at Georgetown, Lynch served as editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Law Journal.
The search committee was chaired by Sally Churchill, vice president and secretary of the university. During the search Associate General Counsel Debra Kowich served as interim vice president and general counsel.
