Lou Guard

Lou Guard’s teaching and writing explores the intersection of higher education and law, with a particular focus on the influence that developments in the law impacting higher education exert on the fundamental mission of colleges and universities.

Outside of Cornell, Lou is Vice President and General Counsel of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY where he serves as the Colleges’ principal legal advisor and as a member of the senior leadership team. He also serves as secretary to the Board of Trustees and acts as their primary governance advisor. He provides legal and strategic advice and counsel across institutional areas and assists the president with major initiatives and projects.

Lou has extensive experience in high stakes matters relating to academic freedom, speech issues, employment, governance, civil rights on campus, and other areas. He has previously served as Chief of Staff to the President at Hobart and William Smith where he guided strategic and senior staff priorities from the Office of the President.

Lou is a member of the New York State Judiciary and serves as Acting City Judge in the City of Geneva.

Lou is an active member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) having served on multiple panels and discussion groups for general counsel as both a panelist and moderator. He has previously served on the Advisory Board of the Journal of College and University Law.

Lou has provided counsel and consultative advice to several other colleges and universities as well as to consortia of colleges and universities on a wide variety of trending legal matters impacting the sector. He has served as a consultant on behalf of the Association of Governing Boards (AGB) on issues of collegiate mergers and acquisitions and is a regular contributor to AGB’s signature publication, Trusteeship.(/p)

Prior to joining Hobart and William Smith Lou worked in private practice at major law firms in Philadelphia, P.A., and Rochester, N.Y. where clients included colleges and universities large and small and a variety of non-profit organizations.(/p)