Upstate Medical University removes interim tag from chief campus counsel Durkin

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Upstate Medical University has named Martin Durkin, Jr. as the medical school’s chief campus counsel.

Durkin had been serving in the role in an interim capacity since April 2023, Upstate Medical said in an online announcement.

Kapil Longani, senior vice chancellor for legal affairs and general counsel for the SUNY system, announced the appointment, which is effective immediately.

Durkin has more than 30 years of legal experience, primarily focused on health-care law, academic medicine, and related compliance matters. Upstate Medical said Durkin was selected after a nationwide search.

“It is a pleasure to appoint Martin as the next Chief Campus Counsel at Upstate,” Longani said in the Upstate Medical news release. “His exceptional legal skills, leadership, creativity, and devotion to Upstate are precisely tailored for this role.”

The chief campus counsel serves as the lead attorney in all aspects of the management and supervision of the SUNY Office of General Counsel (OGC) satellite office at Upstate Medical University. The office also advises Dr. Mantosh Dewan, president of Upstate Medical University, and other Upstate leaders regarding all legal matters related to the operation of the health-care organization, which includes four colleges and two hospitals. 

In addition, the chief campus counsel supervises the attorneys and legal staff assigned to Upstate’s OGC office.

About Durkin

Durkin joined Upstate Medical University’s OGC office in 2017 as associate counsel and was subsequently promoted to senior campus counsel – health care. 

Since joining OGC, he has advised the university on several legal matters, including federal and state regulatory compliance in such areas as physician compensation; the financing of the mission of the institution and hospital operations; strategic affiliations, including mergers and acquisitions; campus and hospital procurement; and legal questions about the administration of patient care.

Before joining Upstate Medical University, Durkin was a partner at the law firm of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In that role, he represented corporations, academic medical centers, hospitals, and physicians in a variety of business, health-care regulatory, and transactional matters. Those issues included mergers and acquisitions, health-care fraud, and abuse investigations involving the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

Durkin also previously served as associate counsel for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), physician-services division representing the interests of UPMC’s principal faculty practice plan, and University of Pittsburgh Physicians.

He holds a law degree from the Widener University Delaware Law School and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh.