Credit: Andre Jenny/Newscom. Florida A&M University entrance.

Denise Wallace has been general counsel of Florida A&M University for only two weeks and already finds herself and the public university embroiled in a high-profile legal controversy on disclosing the name of a former student alleging rape.

The school and its defense lawyers from Cozen O'Connor in Miami and Philadelphia insist on the right to name the plaintiff, listed in court papers as S.B. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee has twice denied their request to disclose the name. They are appealing his latest ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Plaintiffs attorneys from Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll wrote more than 40 Florida state legislators —on Wednesday objecting to the university's legal stance and calling for an investigation into the college's attempts to expose a rape victim's identity in public. That resulted in a lengthy article in the New York Times.

In an interview with Corporate Counsel, Wallace seemed to take the case and all its publicity calmly.

“What can I say about the letter?” she asked. “I think our litigation strategy is well within the rules of civil procedure. And her lawyer has a right to object and to write that letter.”

She said outside counsel and the previous general counsel made their litigation decisions in the case before she arrived, “and I'm not going to second guess their litigation strategy when I wasn't here. I am just beginning to get my arms around things here and am in the process of setting up meetings with outside counsel.”

In the intense climate of #MeToo, Wallace said the situation was “sad, and I wholeheartedly empathize with students who are victims of rape. And now alleged assailants [in other cases] are filing lawsuits, too. I wish there were a better way to handle these things in society, period. It's tragic for everybody, and nobody wins.”

Jennifer Williams, the Cozen O'Connor lawyer in Miami who filed the motions seeking to name the plaintiff, could not be reached for comment by deadline. But her filings argue it's a matter of fairness for the historically black school.

In short, the argument goes like this: The plaintiff alleges she was raped three times by different men, only one of whom is a student, and all three times off campus. She never filed criminal charges or civil suits against the alleged assailants. But she sued the college, claiming it did not do enough to investigate the attacks or support her afterward.

The school said it investigates all such allegations and investigated the plaintiff's claims. Court documents indicate the school did not find her complaints credible enough to take further action.

By not naming the plaintiff in court, the school argues the jury will be biased and will assume she is indeed a “rape victim,” which has yet to be proved. Couple that possibility with all the bad publicity that universities — Penn State, Michigan State, Dartmouth, Ohio State, University of Southern California to name a few — have received lately over sexual assaults on campus, and it's clear why Florida A&M doesn't want the jury making such an assumption.

Williams went so far as to file a motion seeking to preclude the use of the words “rape” and “sexual assault” at trial. The judge denied it, saying, “During trial [the school] is free to explain to the jury that none of the alleged perpetrators were convicted of crimes or sued for tort damages. … This court cannot imagine how plaintiff would present her case if she was prevented from using the words 'sexual assault' or 'rape,' given those allegations are central to this entire dispute.”

For her part, Wallace is taking the high-profile case in stride. “There are as many challenges in higher education as there are in any practice in law,” she said.

Wallace said most people don't realize that education is the second most highly regulated industry in the U.S. after the financial industry. She rattled off a list of state and federal laws and regulations ranging from educational to financial to discrimination, such as Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“That's what has attracted me to higher education,” she said. “No one day is the same. And you really use all your law school classroom education.”

Wallace came to Florida A&M from another historically black school, privately owned Dillard University in New Orleans, where she also served as general counsel. She has a strong background in public service, including serving as assistant city attorney for Miami, assistant school board attorney for Miami-Dade County Public Schools and general counsel for Palm Beach State College in Florida. She said she also worked in the Illinois Attorney General's Office, where she first represented state colleges and universities.

She began her legal career at Steel Hector & Davis in Miami. Wallace received her law degree cum laude from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge and her master of laws degree from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, graduating summa cum laude.