Harvard University finds itself caught up in another potential scandal, as a former top official was named in two ethics complaints.
William Lee and Harvard could face an investigation by the Massachusetts attorney general over whether the college was right to pay Lee's law firm nearly $42 million while he served on the school's governing board, the New York Post reported Thursday.
The Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers and the state's attorney general have been sent formal complaints accusing Lee of "possible conflict of interest by trustee/director with pecuniary interest in service provider to Harvard," the Post reported.
The law firm, WilmerHale, received the money from Harvard between 2011 and 2022, when Lee was serving as one of the school's most senior leaders.
A 1972 Harvard graduate, Lee served on the university's board of directors from July 2010 to June 2022 and was senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation from 2014 to 2022.
He also was co-managing WilmerHale partner between 2004 and 2011.
"As a member/chairperson of the board, Bill Lee oversaw the Harvard officers and departments that normally manage relationships with outside law firms, such as the university's general counsel," the complaint alleged, according to the Post.
The latest Harvard news comes little more than two months after school President Claudine Gay, the school's first black president, resigned from her position after her first months in the role were rocked by her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus and allegations of plagiarism.
Lee helped Gay prepare for her disastrous Dec. 6 appearance before the House Education and Workforce Committee, which was probing antisemitism on campus.
Lawmakers and Harvard graduates were among those calling for Gay to be fired after she refused to say whether on-campus calls for the genocide of Jews was against the school's policy.
WilmerHale served as Harvard's outside counsel during the trial court phase in the landmark affirmative action case "Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard."
The U.S. Supreme Court in June decided the case by striking down race-conscious student admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
WilmerHale billed Harvard more than $11 million in the 2019 fiscal year alone, according to the complaint to the AG.
Bloomberg reported Harvard had paid out more than $27 million in legal fees related to the case as of June 2023.
"Considering the vast resources entrusted to Harvard as a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation, do the circumstances with Bill Lee and Wilmer Hale raise questions about whether Harvard and its board have the necessary corporate governance procedures to avoid conflicts of interest, conflicts of duty or similar issues?" said the complaint, which is filed anonymously, the Post reported.
Reuters contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.