Fees to Board Member’s Law Firm Questioned
July 6, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
Stanford University paid a third of its legal fees to a law firm led by one of its board members, a move that experts say poses a potential conflict of interest, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
According to a 2003-4 informational tax return filed by Stanford, the California institution paid $2.18-million to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, a San Francisco law firm headed by a university trustee, Mary Cranston.
A spokesman for Stanford said the university stands by its relationship with the law firm. Ms. Cranston declined to comment.
The university listed three other potential conflicts of interest in its filing, including President John Hennessy’s service on the board of Google, in which Stanford has invested.
