Kelly Capen Douglas became the general counsel at the University of San Diego in 2005.  As general counsel, she oversees and manages all legal affairs for the university and is responsible for a wide range of legal issues that relate to the university’s activities and operations, including employment and faculty matters, student issues, policy development, intellectual property matters, contract development and review, campus safety, athletics, government regulations, and other matters pertinent to institutions of higher education.  Ms. Douglas serves as the primary legal advisor to the Board of Trustees and is responsible for the management and oversight of the institution’s outside legal service providers to ensure that the service provided is efficient, cost effective, and fosters constructive outcomes for the university.  Prior to joining USD, Ms. Douglas was a partner at Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps LLP, where she specialized in employment law, served as the leader of the labor and employment law practice group, and was a frequent speaker to various human resources and business organizations.  

Ms. Douglas is an active member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys.  She served on NACUA’s Board of Directors from 2011-2014, was the Chair of NACUA’s Committee on Strategic Planning, and is a speaker and moderator at various NACUA programs.  In 2015, she received NACUA’s First Decade Award in recognition of her service to the association

Ms. Douglas earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University. She received her J.D. degree with high honors from the Duke University School of Law, where she earned membership in the Order of the Coif and was selected as the outstanding woman law graduate.   Ms. Douglas and her husband JD have two children, Courtney and Collin.

Rowena R. Manlapaz is a Principal Counsel at the University of California’s Office of the General Counsel.  She is a member of the Health Law Group, specializing in corporate matters and health care transactions, including M&A, joint ventures, and complex business transactions.  She serves as the Assistant Secretary for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.

Before joining the University in 2011, Ms. Manlapaz was a Vice President and Associate Counsel at AMB Property Corporation, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, and an associate attorney at the law firms of Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP, all in San Francisco, California.  Ms. Manlapaz is a graduate of Cornell University (B.A. 1993) and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall) (J.D. 1996).  She also studied at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan.

Linda Shaunessy is the chief Business Contracts Administrator for the University of Texas at Austin.   As the Business Contracts Administrator, she drafts, reviews, and negotiates business contracts for all departments and colleges of the University.  She signs approximately 7000 contracts per year on behalf of the University, including licensing agreements, facilities use contracts, employment contracts, non-disclosure agreements , service agreements, equipment leases, software licenses, athletics contracts, affiliation agreements, and more. 

Prior to joining the University of Texas, Ms. Shaunessy was an Assistant Attorney General for the Financial Litigation Unit of the Texas Attorney General’s Office.  There, she served as lead counsel in state and federal trial and appellate courts for twenty-three years, handling litigation involving  a wide range of issues, including procurement and contract litigation.  In particular, she defended the State of Texas in Keane v. State of Texas and State v. Scientific Games on various contract claims against Lottery Commission including procurement of multi-million dollar contracts for lottery tickets.

Ms. Shaunessy is a Board Member of the Department of Information Resources, a position to which she was appointed by the Governor of Texas.  She has spoken at the University of Texas School of Law and at the State Bar of Texas on “Contract Dispute Resolution” and has authored publications on "Chapter 2260, Resolving Contractual Disputes with the State." She obtained her Bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin and her J.D. from Southern Methodist University.