The firm persuaded the Board of Regents to hold a hearing under a little known provision of the New York State Education Law pursuant to which the Regents can remove members of the Board of Trustees of any University charted by New York State. The petition sought the removal of the entire Board of Adelphi University for failing to exercise their fiduciary duties in connection with the remuneration and benefits awarded the then-President of the University, Peter Diamondopolous. The petition resulted in a 28-day hearing before a panel of the Board of Regents. Following the hearing, the full Board of Regents voted to remove the entire Board of Trustees, save one recently appointed member. This was only the second time that the procedure had been invoked in the past 100 years. The decision in the Adelphi case has served as a precedent for the responsibilities of boards of not‑for‑profit institutions and was relied on by the Attorney General of New York in the actions against the Board of the New York Stock Exchange for awarding excessive compensation to its former Chairman, Richard Grasso.
AAUP Chapter at Adelphi Univ. and Bd. of Regents (1997)
