Office of the General Counsel

The Office of General Counsel is responsible for providing legal advice and representation to the university and to faculty and staff acting in their roles as representatives of the university. This advice and representation covers such matters as defending employment decisions; drafting and reviewing contracts; interpreting and updating policies and procedures; and providing counsel on compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations. Matters relating to affirmative action and risk management are also handled in this office.

The Office of General Counsel welcomes inquiries from administrators, faculty and staff about legal issues which relate to university business. This web site provides general information about services provided by the Office of General Counsel, about common legal issues, commonly used forms and sources of other information, legal and non-legal. This information is not meant to provide legal advice for specific situations. Any member of the university community may contact the office to discuss the legal ramifications of any business or administrative matter

We Provide the Following Services to Members of the University Community

• Notary services to faculty, staff and students
• Memos and certificates of exemption to qualified international employees (faculty, staff and students) relating to exemption from income tax under tax treaties between the United States and the home country of the employee
• Copies of the faculty handbook (and updates thereto) to faculty
• Copies of the policies and procedure handbook (and updates)
• Processing of warrants for collection from the City of Chicago for various inspectional services, whenever IIT is exempt from paying those warrants based on City Council ordinances
• Processing of applications for and renewals of various State of Illinois and City of Chicago licenses (food dispenser, liquor, barber shop, amusement, raffle, right-of-way, etc.)
• Distribution and retention of annual Conflict of Interest Disclosure memo/form to Trustees, faculty members, principal investigators and budget managers