Leslie Gomez, vice chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Institutional Response Group, has been honored by the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) with the 2024 First Decade Award. This award recognizes an individual who has been a member of NACUA for ten or fewer years and has made a significantly innovative contribution to NACUA or provided outstanding service to the association and the practice of higher education law.
Gomez focuses her practice on the institutional response to sexual and gender-based harassment and violence, child abuse, and other forms of harassment, discrimination, and criminal conduct. She provides consulting, counseling, and legal advice on all aspects of the institutional response to misconduct for colleges, universities, K-12 schools, and other child-serving organizations across the country. Gomez assists institutions in designing effective institutional responses that integrate the complex federal and state regulatory framework with the unique dynamics of trauma and the impacts of interpersonal violence on individuals and communities. Her work includes policy audit and drafting, systems design, trauma-informed and fair investigations, prevention and education, regulatory compliance under Title IX, the Clery Act, Title VI, and child protection statutes. Gomez, a former career child abuse and sexual violence prosecutor, is nationally recognized for her knowledge and experience related to sexual and interpersonal violence, child sexual and physical abuse, child protection, and child protective services laws.
About NACUA
NACUA aims to enhance legal assistance to colleges and universities by educating attorneys and administrators about the nature of campus legal issues. The association also has an equally important role in the continuing legal education of university counsel. NACUA’s mission is to advance the effective practice of higher education attorneys for the benefit of the colleges and universities they serve.
About Cozen O’Connor
Established in 1970, Cozen O’Connor has over 850 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate, and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle-market companies, Cozen O’Connor serves its clients’ needs through 32 offices across two continents.