Office of the General Counsel Staff

Jason A. Catz joined the Office of the General Counsel in 2022. Jason arrives at OSU having most recently served seven years as General Counsel for Southern Oregon University. Jason first came to higher education in Oregon as a member of the Oregon University System’s legal staff in 2012, where he served as Associate General Counsel and provided legal services to Southern Oregon University, Oregon Tech, and the OUS Office of the Chancellor. Prior to joining OUS, Jason spent ten years at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in San Francisco, California where he litigated numerous matters on behalf of education, health care, technology, and banking clients, among others. Jason received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in and his B.A. in philosophy from Kenyon College.

Julie S. Penry joined the Office of the General Counsel in 2014. She has served the state of Oregon as an attorney since about 2007 for the Oregon Department of Justice and the Oregon Judicial Department. Prior to her state service, she worked in private practice as a patent attorney, engaging in intellectual property prosecution, registration, and litigation; and before that, gained experience in both criminal prosecution and defense. Julie received her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School with a Certificate in Intellectual Property and a B.S. in biology with a chemistry minor from Wake Forest University.

Jessica Brubaker joined the Office of General Counsel in 2016. From 2010 to 2016 she served as Associate Legal Counsel for the Montana University System. Prior to moving to in-house roles for institutions of higher education, Jessica was in private practice in Montana providing representation to K-12 public school districts. Jessica received her J.D. from William & Mary Law School and her B.A. in history and psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Whitney Hill joined the Office of the General Counsel in 2020. Whitney graduated magna cum laude from Claremont McKenna College in California. After working for many years in a variety of jobs with children, teens and lawyers, Whitney attended the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. In Portland, Whitney worked for the nonprofit law firm Youth, Rights & Justice (fka Juvenile Rights Project) in disability law courtesy of a public interest fellowship from her law school. Whitney then worked for the Oregon Department of Justice first in juvenile dependency law and then in the General Counsel section in 2016.

Kareem Walcott joined the Office of the General Counsel in 2021. Kareem received his J.D. from Willamette University College of Law, as well as a certificate in business law. Kareem received his B.A. in political science from Oregon State University. After law school, Kareem worked as a bankruptcy and general business attorney for the Caldwell Law firm, then transitioned to a business law, probate, trust and estates attorney here in Corvallis at the Reynolds Law Firm. Interested in litigation, Kareem then went to the Benton County District Attorney’s office where he litigated 30+ cases. Kareem has very much enjoyed the transition to higher education at OSU.