Armand Paliotta, a two-time alumnus of OU, will become the new vice president and general counsel starting on Oct. 1, pending approval from the OU Board of Regents. OU President Joseph Harroz announced the appointment on Tuesday in a press release.
The position was previously held by Anil V. Gollahalli, who announced he would be leaving the university for another job opportunity this past May. During their May meeting, the Board of Regents approved a search committee, chaired by Vice President for Executive Affairs Sean Burrage, to replace Gollahalli before the start of the fall semester. Susanna Gattoni has been serving as the interim general counsel during the transition, according to the press release.
Paliotta graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from OU in 1989 and a Juris Doctorate from OU College of Law in 1992. According to the email from Harroz, Paliotta graduated second in his law school class academically.
Paliotta is a lawyer with Hartzog Conger Cason LLP in Oklahoma City, where he was recognized as the city’s 2022 Lawyer of the Year for securities and capital markets law. Previously, he served in the Oklahoma Securities Commission in 2005, served as a commissioner for six years and chair of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Business and Corporate Law Section.
Paliotta helped in the agreement to form OU Health, which is the state’s first comprehensive academic health system. He also served as the general counsel for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets during the three years the team moved to the city.
In his position at OU, Paliotta will lead the legal strategy for OU’s three campuses, Rogers State University and Cameron University. Paliotta will be in charge of litigation, university and athletics compliance, as well as threat assessment and collections, according to Harroz’s email.
Harroz wrote Paliotta “brings excellence, unsurpassed integrity, and a collaborative spirit to this key leadership,” in the press release. Harroz also wrote Paliotta’s legal portfolio will translate well to higher education and the academic health care environment of OU.
The Board of Regents will vote on the appointment in its September meeting.
