General Counsel
Emerson College
Christine Hughes has been named general counsel of Emerson College, the only comprehensive institution of higher education in the country devoted exclusively to communication and the arts. In this capacity, she provides or supervises all legal advice to the college and its trustees on issues of governance, employment, business, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, gifts and endowments, student affairs, real estate and development, and related issues.
Hughes has practiced law in the public and private sectors for over 20 years. Prior to joining Emerson College, she was general counsel to the New England Legal Foundation. She served as chief legal counsel and senior assistant attorney general to the University of Washington in Seattle for eight years and as University Counsel at Harvard University for six years. She was a partner at the Boston law firm of Hale and Dorr, now Wilmer Hale, and began her legal career at Goodwin Procter.
Hughes earned her bachelor’s degree at Dartmouth College and received her juris doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law.