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Michigan State University, still reeling from the Larry Nassar sex scandal, announced Tuesday that Robert Noto, its vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, will retire on March 5. Noto's office had been under heavy fire by victims' families and some school trustees for the way it handled the Nassar affair.

At the same time the university said it hired Robert Young, a former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, as lead counsel on the Nassar matter. Young, who is of counsel at Dickinson Wright in Lansing, Michigan, will coordinate the criminal and civil investigations and will oversee outside counsel handling more than 100 federal lawsuits filed by victims of the former sports doctor.

In a statement, Young said MSU would be cooperating fully with the multiple investigations. Young left the court last year to begin a run for the U.S. Senate, but dropped out of the race last month.

MSU said deputy general counsel Kristine Zayko will become acting general counsel to handle the day-to-day operations of the office. Neither Noto nor Zayko returned messages seeking comment.

Meanwhile Young will coordinate with at least three other heavy hitters hired by the university since the scandal broke. They are:

• Lead defense counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and now a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Chicago, who is defending the school against the Title IX lawsuits.
• Senior adviser James Blanchard, a former Michigan governor, who is counseling the board of trustees on government relations and legal affairs.
• Special counsel Carol Viventi, a former deputy director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, who is advising interim MSU president John Engler.

Although the Young and Noto moves were announced in the same press release, MSU otherwise didn't connect Noto's departure with the Nassar scandal, which involved the sexual abuse of over 200 young women in his medical care.

Noto had served as general counsel since 1995, and he chaired the principal legal officers group of the Big Ten Academic Alliance since 2009.

“Bob Noto served Michigan State University for more than two decades in exemplary fashion,” said a statement from Engler, the interim president. “During his time here he has handled the university's complex legal matters with great skill and integrity, and he built a strong in-house team that will continue to serve MSU well.”

Noto previously worked for New York University's legal department, last serving as associate general counsel and deputy secretary to NYU's board of trustees.

“It has been my privilege and pleasure to build and lead MSU's legal team, in which I have great confidence,” a statement from Noto said. “I am proud to have Kristine Zayko as acting vice president for legal affairs and general counsel.”

Zayko started as a staff attorney at the university 20 years ago, and worked her way up, serving the last 10 years as deputy general counsel.

Prior to coming to MSU, Zayko was a labor and employment attorney in private practice with Latham & Watkins in Chicago and then Foster Swift Collins & Smith in Lansing.

Zayko's statement said, “I am honored to serve the university, and I thank President Engler for his confidence in me to lead this office during a critical time. I am grateful to have worked with such a strong mentor as Bob, who has helped me and many others over his distinguished career at MSU.”

Noto's departure will be the fourth high level MSU executive to leave in the wake of the Nassar scandal, which involved his work in the sports and medical departments. The former university president and the athletic director both resigned under pressure; and the dean of the osteopathic medical school, who supervised Nassar, was fired.