How to Talk with Campus Counsel

June 10, 2026 at 12pm ET

REGISTER HERE

Many researchers, authors, and librarians face legal questions, particularly copyright and related issues, that they can’t handle on their own, either because of the complexity of those questions or because they raise risks not just to themselves but to their institutions. At that point, the next step is often to talk with campus counsel, but talking with counsel can be intimidating, and we don’t learn how to talk to lawyers in school.

This webinar offers a practical guide to working with institutional attorneys on copyright and related issues. We’ll discuss when it makes sense to involve counsel, how to frame questions so they can be answered effectively, and how to provide the kind of context lawyers need to give useful advice. Along the way, we’ll explore the role of campus counsel within the university and consider ways librarians and legal offices can work together more productively.

The goal is simple: to make those conversations easier, clearer, and more effective for everyone involved.

We thank PALCI for their collaboration in creating this event.

Speakers: 

Laura Burtle, Georgia State University

Laura is an associate dean in the Georgia State University Library. She is the library’s scholarly communications expert, and provides guidance and support in copyright, fair use, publishing, open access, author rights and related areas. She oversees the departments responsible for the library website, digital collections, and systems; for discovery, including cataloging, metadata, authentication, and electronic resource licensing. She earned a J.D. from Georgia State University, an M.S. in Library Science from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and a B.A. from the College of William and Mary.

Sandra Aya Enimil, Yale University

Sandra is the Director for Scholarly Communication and Collection Strategy at Yale Library. Sandra advises library leadership and advances the library’s strategic and operational goals related to scholarly communication and collection strategy. She also advances openness by providing insight, information and resources on open scholarship and publishing. She consults with Yale researchers on using copyrighted materials and assists creators in protecting their own copyright. Sandra also leads a committee that reviews and negotiates licenses for electronic resources and provides input on licenses of all types for the library. Sandra earned her Law and MSLIS degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sandra has BAs in Political Science and Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an MA in International Relations from the University of Ghana, Legon.

Stephen Wolfson, University of Pennsylvania

Stephen is Assistant General Counsel/Copyright Advisor at Penn Libraries. Stephen coordinates support for and advises on copyright, fair use, information policy, and related scholarly communications activities on Penn’s campus. Working closely with our team of subject librarians, he offers training and consultative services for the university community about copyright and intellectual property issues and their impact on scholarly inquiry and instruction. Stephen holds a J.D. from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, a Master of Science in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Ohio State University.