Office of General Counsel FAQs

The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) is the in-house legal office at WPI that oversees all of WPI’s legal affairs. The OGC has a broad mission: to educate the WPI community about the laws, policies, and procedures applicable to WPI’s activities; to prevent legal problems and solve those that occur; to facilitate transactions and provide timely advice and representation; and to help WPI’s faculty, administration, staff, and students fulfill their goals in teaching, research, and service. 

The OGC provides a wide variety of legal services. These include advising WPI officials on regulatory compliance and other legal aspects of their duties; representing WPI in litigation before federal and state courts and administrative agencies; advising on issues involving risk management; preparing and negotiating contracts between WPI and other entities; and representing WPI in commercial transactions. The office also supervises the activities of outside counsel who may be retained to assist with matters requiring specialized expertise.    

Contact us for assistance on matters relating to WPI’s operations.   

Our offices are located on the first floor of Boynton Hall. We can be reached by email ogc@wpi.edu or phone (508) 831-6355.  

No, unfortunately the Office of General Counsel (OGC) cannot represent employees in their personal matters. The OGC represents WPI as an institution, and the OGC works only on WPI-related matters.  

However, we understand that facing personal legal challenges can be difficult, and, depending on the issue, we may be able to point you to some helpful resources. For example, the Lawyer Referral Service is a non-profit public service of the Boston Bar Association designed to provide you with an impartial referral to an attorney in your city or town who handles a specific kind of legal problem. For more information, call the Boston Bar Association at (617) 742-0625 or visit their website at https://bostonbar.org.  You can also consider the resources available at Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General.  

Attorney-client privilege is a rule that protects confidential communications between a lawyer and their client when those communications are made for the purpose of seeking or providing legal advice. This means that emails, conversations, and documents shared in confidence with your attorney generally cannot be disclosed to third parties without your permission. This helps you feel comfortable being honest so your lawyer can give you the best advice. 

A few important points: 

• It only applies when you’re seeking legal advice, not casual chats.
• If other people are in the room who don’t need to be there, the privilege might not apply.
• It doesn’t protect conversations meant to plan or hide a crime.
• You can lose the protection if you share the information with others. 

Yes, when the purpose of a communication between WPI employees and OGC lawyers is to request legal advice about WPI matters, those communications are generally protected by attorney-client privilege. This means they are confidential and cannot be shared outside WPI without permission.  

However, it is important to remember that the client (for purposes of the attorney-client privilege) is WPI as an institution – not individual employees – so, depending on the situation, the information may be shared internally with others at WPI who need to know in order to address the issue. OGC lawyers will always handle all information with sensitivity and care.   

For the attorney-client privilege to apply, you should not discuss your communications with an OGC attorney with anyone outside of WPI. Even within WPI, you should take care only to discuss the communications with others who have responsibility for the issue at hand. Disclosure of those communications risks waiving the privilege, which means the communications would no longer be confidential. Keep in mind that forwarding an email with legal advice could waive that privilege.  If you have any questions about whether or not to share certain information, please consult with a member of the OGC before doing so. 

If you believe you have been the subject of unlawful discrimination, you should contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Outreach at titleix@wpi.edu or visit their website at https://www.wpi.edu/offices/equal-opportunity-outreach. 

Legal papers are formal documents connected to a legal matter. Common examples include: 

• Subpoena: A subpoena is a court order that requires an individual or organization to disclose information or to provide to testimony about a certain issue.
• Summons: An official notice that a lawsuit has been filed and that a response is required.
• Complaint: A document that explains the claims or allegations in a lawsuit. 

If a process server or other individual asks you to accept service of legal papers relating to your work at WPI, do not accept the documents. Instead, if possible, direct the individual to the Office of the General Counsel (OGC). 

If you have already received legal papers relating to your work at WPI, please immediately contact OGC and forward the documents to our office. Legal papers often involve strict deadlines and obligations, so sending them to OGC right away helps ensure WPI responds properly and protects both WPI and its employees. 

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) only does not apply to WPI because it is a private institution.  FOIA only applies to public institutions. Therefore, WPI is not required to provide information requested under that statute. Nevertheless, you should immediately forward any letter requesting information under the FOIA to the Office of General Counsel.

Yes. The name “Worcester Polytechnic Institute” and “WPI” and how they are used affects both WPI as a whole and the individual members of the WPI community. Any use of WPI’s name and insignia must be submitted to, and approved in advance by, the Vice President for Marketing and Communications. Please consult WPI’s policy for more information or send an email to marketing@wpi.edu to obtain permission to use WPI’s name or logo.  

WPI is committed to responsible and ethical conduct in the classroom, the workplace and the laboratory. There are several reporting channels depending on the type of unethical conduct you believe you may have information about. Please see WPI’s Code of Business Ethics and Conduct to find the right resources to address the issue you would like to discuss further or report.