General Counsel and University Secretary

Rashi Jain is General Counsel and University Secretary.

Rashi reports to the Vice-Chancellor for substantive matters and leads the University Secretary’s Office. She provides overall leadership and guidance for legal and governance matters for our University.  The University Secretary’s Office is responsible for the provision of in-house legal services, effective corporate governance and advice on compliance and risk.

The University Secretary’s Office supports our Council and Executive Management team by enabling them to meet their corporate governance and compliance obligations. It is also responsible for reviewing the external legal and regulatory context and developing policies and procedures.

As Secretary to Council and Court, Rashi is responsible to the Chair of Council and Chancellor for advising our governing body and its sub-committees on the proper exercise of their powers and on the application of laws affecting its work.

She is also the University’s Chief Risk Officer and Senior Information Risk Manager and plays a lead role in identifying risk and providing pragmatic advice to key stakeholders in the institution including the Vice-Chancellor, UEB, Council and Senate.

Rashi graduated from Cardiff University and went on to the College of Law in Chester. She then took up her training contract with Eversheds in her home town of Manchester. After qualifying as a solicitor she went on to practice in private commercial law firms, providing legal advice and training to business ranging from manufacturing to utilities.

On moving from the North West of England to Bristol, she joined the University of Bristol’s in house legal team. She has appeared in Employment Tribunals and judicial mediations and is an accredited civil and commercial mediator. When she left the University of Bristol University she was as an Associate Director of Legal Services where she led on the provision of Employment law advice and oversaw the student complaints legal team, academic and misconduct cases, whistleblowing cases, data protection team and mediation service.

As a dedicated advocate for inclusion and fairness, Rashi volunteered to Co-Chair the University of Bristol’s Staff Experience Group and was a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee.