Appointment of new chief campus counsel

Unit Managers: Please post a paper copy of this message in your area for people who do not have regular computer access.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Michael A. Troncoso as chief campus counsel. His appointment is effective April 21.

Michael succeeds Carole Rossi, whose retirement was announced previously. He brings a wealth of experience and an impressive portfolio to his work on behalf of UC Santa Cruz.

Most recently, Michael served as senior counsel to California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, overseeing priority legal affairs in the nation's second-largest public law office of more than 1,000 attorneys. His accomplishments include serving as lead counsel for the state in the National Mortgage Settlement cases; he negotiated directly with leaders of global financial firms and the federal government to ultimately secure a $20 billion settlement. For his work, he was recently honored as an Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer magazine and one of the "top 20 Under 40" attorneys in California by the Daily Journal.

Michael has additional high-level experience in environmental protection, technology, constitutional law, compliance, and employment issues. Given the high-profile nature of many of the cases Michael has handled, he also has extensive experience working with the news media.

Michael spent five years in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, serving as a trial attorney and assistant chief attorney for policy; earlier in his career, he was a litigator in the San Francisco offices of two international law firms. A graduate of UC Berkeley and Georgetown University Law Center, Michael is a member of San Francisco La Raza Lawyers and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

We could not be more pleased with the outcome of this search. We are grateful to the members of the search committee, led by co-chairs Sarah Latham, vice chancellor of Business and Administrative Services, and Steve Drown, deputy general counsel for educational affairs, campus services, and governance in the UC Office of the President's Office of the General Counsel.

Please join us in welcoming Michael Troncoso to UC Santa Cruz.