Gerard Leone

Overview

Gerry is co-head of Hunton’s higher education and private schools practice and a collaborative team leader with broad-based public, governmental, and private practice experience, including in niche special situations that require his distinctive skills, as well as in safety, security, and executive protection matters. He provides a variety of clients—both individuals and organizations—with thoughtful, strategic advice and practical decision making tools in legal, business, regulatory, compliance, and ethics matters across higher education, litigation, and investigations (internal, external, and governmental).

Gerry leans on his diversity of past positions, responsibilities, and experience in building his current practice. He is a former General Counsel of the University of Massachusetts, former private industry Vice President of People Development and CHRO of a large construction firm, former elected and appointed leader of county, state, and federal government and investigative prosecution organizations, and former Regional Counsel and Senior Director of an international investigations and consulting firm, among other roles. This unique set of experience informs his ability to bring people and agencies together and his comfort interacting with local, state, and federal prosecutors, government regulators, and law enforcement officers. He seeks to effectively control, mitigate, and eliminate client exposure—from risk prevention to crisis management and everything in between, including independent corporate monitoring or receivership needed to investigate, address, and remediate alleged compliance related misconduct.

Prior to joining Hunton, Gerry served as General Counsel to the University of Massachusetts from 2017 to 2023, where he was the Chief Legal Officer, and an advisor and counsel for the entire system and the President’s Office, Board of Trustees, and related University business entities. He led and managed the internal firm of 20 lawyers responsible for a broad scope of legal, regulatory, compliance, and ethics practice areas related to conventional higher education matters (such as NCAA and Title IX, and public and failing higher education institutions), as well as internal and external investigations, and litigation, compliance, labor and employment, immigration, governance, intellectual property, real estate, and corporate matters. He uses that experience to help higher education institutions and secondary schools govern themselves, protect and preserve financial and organizational assets, protect critical infrastructure projects, and resolve civil and criminal disputes.

Gerry is also a former elected District Attorney for Middlesex County, First Assistant US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Chief of the Criminal Bureau at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk and Middlesex Counties in Massachusetts. He prosecuted high-profile and well-known local, regional, national, and international cases covering white collar and organized crime, corruption and fraud, anti-terrorism, murder, physical and sexual assault, and major crimes. For example, Gerry led the domestic and international investigative prosecutorial team that obtained a conviction of the first Al Qaeda terrorist on American soil (the so-called “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid) and his co-conspirator Sajiid Badaat in the UK.

Gerry has deep ties to the Boston and broader Massachusetts communities and longstanding connections to the New England law enforcement and legal industry, as well as the private sector.