Consol Energy Executive Vice President P. Jerome Richey has been named general counsel of the University of Pittsburgh.
Richey will take over the job March 1, succeeding Executive Vice Chancellor Jerome Cochran as general counsel. Cochran had been holding both roles since 2004 and will remain executive vice chancellor.
“The fact that we combined two key executive functions—those of the chief business officer and those of the chief legal officer—under Jerry Cochran is a testament to his unique set of talents, was responsive to the expressed needs of the principal consumers of legal services within the university, and has worked extremely well," Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg said in a prepared statement. "However, we always knew that we would need to separate those functions at some future date, and the opportunity to recruit someone with Jerry Richey's experience, strength, and stature to our senior leadership team made this the right time to act.
Richey is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a JD. He was a private practice lawyer beginning in 1974 at Moorhead & Knox, which later merged with what is now Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. He was a partner there and then joined Consol Energy in 2005 as general counsel and corporate secretary, adding senior vice president duties in 2007. He had been named executive vice president and chief legal officer in 2009.
Richey, who is executive vice president - corporate affairs at Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX), moved up his retirement date from March 2, 2014, to March 1, 2013. He'll receive $772,000 from Consol in his departure, according to an SEC filing.