July 27, 2011
Catholic University President John Garvey has appointed Lawrence J. Morris as the University's new general counsel.
Morris will manage the University's responses to litigation and other legal proceedings. He will provide legal guidance on matters related to Catholic University's operations and serve as the principal legal adviser to the Board of Trustees and the executive officers of the University. Morris begins work Aug. 11.
"I am delighted to welcome Lawrence Morris as our new general counsel," says President Garvey. "The depth and breadth of his legal experience - as a courtroom attorney who has worked on both sides of the aisle, as an executive general counsel with extensive law office management expertise, as a senior legal adviser, and as a law professor - should serve the University exceptionally well in the years to come."
Morris has more than 29 years experience as a U.S. Army and civilian attorney. Morris provided legal, ethics, and policy advice; litigated more than 100 cases; and reviewed legal investigations in the U.S. and overseas.
Just prior to his appointment at Catholic University, Morris was the civilian chief of advocacy for U.S. Army Headquarters, where he oversaw the quality of advocacy training of 600 Army prosecutors and defense counsel.
Previously, as an active duty Army colonel, Morris served as chief prosecutor for the Office of Military Commissions, litigating cases of suspected terrorists detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In 2007, Morris was a founding co-executive director of the multinational Law and Order Task Force in Baghdad, Iraq, where he helped that nation improve its legal system, particularly criminal investigative and judicial practices. Morris received a Bronze Star for his work there.
Morris' military experience includes a university context. He was general counsel of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. and professor and chairman of the Criminal Law Department of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Va., which provides accredited graduate legal education to military and civilian attorneys of the armed services.
In addition, Morris has served as adjunct professor at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law and other area law schools.
Morris holds an M.S. in national strategy from the National Defense University, an LL.M. from the Judge Advocate General's School, and a J.D. and B.A. from Marquette University.
He is author of "Military Justice: A Guide to the Issues," published by McGraw-Hill in 2010, and more than a dozen articles and training publications used by U.S. military prosecutors and defenders around the world.
MEDIA: For more information, contact Katie Lee or Mary McCarthy in the Office of Public Affairs at 202-319-5600.