Leslie M. Gomez

Practice Areas

Leslie is the Vice Chair of the Institutional Response Group, a national practice dedicated to helping educational, child-serving, and mission-based institutions prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based harassment and violence, other forms of discrimination and harassment, child abuse, and criminal conduct. Leslie advises institutions regarding care-based compliance frameworks for implementing Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, the Clery Act, and other laws and regulations related to civil rights, discrimination, harassment, child protection, and campus safety. She assists public and private institutions in designing effective institutional responses that integrate the complex federal and state regulatory framework, the impacts of trauma and interpersonal violence on individuals and communities, and the institution’s unique culture, climate, and context.

Leslie helps institutions develop holistic and integrated policies, procedures, internal operating protocols and systems; conducts Title VI, Title IX, Clery Act, and child protection policy and implementation audits; trains multidisciplinary teams and implementers; serves as an adviser to campus task forces and working groups; and advises on Title VI and Title IX investigations, adjudication, resolution, hearing, and appeal proceedings. She has also helped public and private universities build centralized compliance programs, civil rights offices, and youth protection programs, and coordinate responses across state systems and academic medical centers. Leslie assists institutions in responding to Title VI, Title IX, and Clery Act investigations by the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and the Clery Compliance Division; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights; and the U.S. Department of Justice. Leslie has been designated as an approved equity consultant by the OCR.

Leslie conducts sensitive and complex investigations and after-action reviews and assists institutions, senior leaders, and boards in navigating challenging circumstances in a manner that reinforces institutional integrity and prioritizes institutional values. Her work includes root cause analyses of suicide and other critical incidents, as well as investigations, culture and climate assessments, and program reviews within athletics programs. She regularly advises presidents, boards, senior leadership, counsel, student affairs, faculty affairs, human resources, campus law enforcement, Title IX Coordinators, and other campus partners on compliance and coordinated care that prioritizes the safety and welfare of campus constituents.

Leslie is nationally recognized for her knowledge and experience related to child sexual and physical abuse, child protection, and child protective services laws. She conducts training and prevention programs; provides child protection planning related to screening and onboarding of employees, professional boundaries, and mandatory reporter policies; advises on external reporting obligations and institutional responses; and conducts investigations into current and historical reports of abuse.

Personal

Leslie presents prevention, education, and training programs, and CLE programs at educational institutions and conferences across the country. She regularly volunteers in a programming capacity for the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), the Higher Education Protection Network (HEPNet), and the Vermont Legal Issues in Higher Education Conference. Leslie is a proud first-generation Cuban-American.

Career

Vice Chair, Cozen O’Connor Institutional Response Group; Former Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Juvenile Unit, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office; Judicial Law Clerk, Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania

Professional Memberships

Chair, Yale Law School Association Executive Committee; Member, Children’s Crisis Treatment Center Board of Directors; Member, Vermont Legal Issues in Higher Education Conference Board of Advisors

Education

Awards