Stanford University has hired an outside law firm to lead the investigation of its president over allegations of research misconduct, a decision that comes in the wake of criticisms over potential conflicts of interest in the school’s internal review process.
Mark Filip, a former federal judge and Department of Justice official who now defends white-collar clients, will lead the investigation into Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, the university said in a statement on Wednesday. Stanford had previously tasked an internal committee made up of its board of trustees with investigating allegations of altered images in papers co-authored by Tessier-Lavigne. The special committee initially included an investor in a startup co-founded by the university president, who has since stepped aside for the investigation.