Ian Oakley joined Lehigh University as Assistant General Counsel in 2023. Mr. Oakley provides legal support across a wide range of university matters, including labor and employment, internal investigations, athletics, campus police, student conduct, litigation and dispute resolution, and university compliance and governance.
Prior to joining Lehigh, Mr. Oakley served as General Counsel for the Pennsylvania SPCA, where he worked closely with leadership to advance the organization’s mission to end animal cruelty. In that capacity, he was deputized as a special prosecutor in multiple counties across Pennsylvania to pursue cases of animal abuse. Earlier in his career, he was a commercial litigator with a regional law firm in Princeton, New Jersey. Mr. Oakley began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia, where he served in the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, prosecuting some of the city’s most serious sexual abuse and assault cases.
A native of Easton, Pennsylvania, Mr. Oakley currently resides in Philadelphia. He earned his Juris Doctor from Drexel University in 2016 and his Bachelor of Arts from King’s College in 2013. He is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the National Association of College and University Attorneys, and the Association of Corporate Counsel. He is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey