Ex-regent to give legal advice to board

Monday, Oct. 11, 2004 | 9:40 a.m.

Starting in November, university regents will be getting their legal advice from a former regent.

Daniel Klaich, a Reno attorney who served on the Board of Regents from 1984 to 1997, will replace former chief general counsel Tom Ray as the lead attorney for the University and Community College System, Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers announced Friday.

Rogers demoted Ray in August surrounding continued allegations that under his guidance the regents had violated Nevada's open-meeting law. Ray was under fire at the time for refusing to release a proposed employment contract for Rogers before the regents appointed Rogers to the interim chancellorship.

The ongoing controversy prompted Rogers, a lawyer himself, to reorganize the system's legal team and to declare a new policy of openness, under which any document requested would be immediately released unless there was a law forbidding it.

One of Klaich's main priorities as the system's lead attorney will be to serve as a liaison between the board and the public as well as the attorney general's office, he said Friday. He said as far as he is "concerned the public's business will be done in public."

"It's my perception that the relationship between the regents and the attorney general has been adversarial for a while, and I think we need to change that," Klaich said. "I think someone new being in the position gives us a chance to start fresh with open dialogue."

Klaich, who has primarily advised boards of directors during his 30 years as a lawyer, said his second priority will be making sure the reorganization of the system's legal team runs smoothly.

Rogers said in a statement that he chose Klaich because of his experience on the board and his knowledge of Nevada's higher education system, all of which will "help him hit the ground running."

Regent Jill Derby said Klaich was a mentor to her when she came on the board, and that his 12 years on the board shows his committment to higher education.

"I'm delighted with that choice," Derby said. "We couldn't have done better."

Klaich will oversee the system's seven attorneys, many of whom have been assigned to specific institutions. According to system officials, Mary Dugan will be working directly with UNR, Bart Patterson and Walter Ayers will jointly counsel the Community College of Southern Nevada and Nevada State College, and Ray will oversee the Desert Research Institute and the state's three other community colleges. Rogers is still searching for an attorney for UNLV, system officials said.

Assistant General Counsel Brooke Nielsen has postponed her retirement plans to help acquaint Klaich with the system, officials said, and attorneys Mark Ghan and Kwasi Nyamekye will also work with Klaich in the system offices.