Monica J. Allen, vice chancellor and general counsel at Washington University in St. Louis, will retire from the university Nov. 3 after nearly 20 years of service, according to Chancellor Andrew D. Martin.
Allen has served as WashU’s chief legal officer since 2016, when she was promoted into the role after serving for eight years as associate vice chancellor, deputy general counsel and chief litigation counsel. She joined the university in 2006 as senior counsel.
“We couldn’t have asked for a more highly skilled, intuitive and thoughtful leader to serve as WashU’s general counsel for nearly the past decade,” Martin said. “In addition to being a gifted lawyer, Monica also is an individual of great integrity who brings warmth and humanity to everything she does. She represents the very best of her profession and her alma mater. We will miss her greatly. I wish her all the best as she begins her well-deserved retirement this fall.”
A triple-graduate of WashU, Allen earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in comparative literature, and her law degree from the university. Prior to joining the university, she was a partner at Haar & Woods, where she specialized in complex litigation, handling a wide variety of professional liability claims and business and commercial disputes. She also has served as senior attorney at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and was an associate at Shands, Elbert, Gianoulakis and Giljum. She began her legal career as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Jean C. Hamilton and for six years taught comparative legal ethics and pretrial practice and procedure at the WashU School of Law.
Allen is a member of various professional organizations including the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the Association of Corporate Counsel. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Judicial Learning Center, and on the boards of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and Albion Theatre.
“It has been a tremendous privilege to represent Washington University and to do so during a period of great transition,” Allen said. “I firmly believe that working alongside my talented colleagues in the Office of General Counsel on behalf of the accomplished and dedicated WashU community is the greatest job a lawyer can have. I am grateful to Chancellor Martin for that opportunity and look forward to watching as WashU continues to thrive.”
Martin intends to launch a national search for Allen’s successor. Details about the search process will be shared later this spring.
