Rodney Akers

From the Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel

Rodney R. Akers was appointed Deputy General Counsel in November 2007. His chief administrative responsibilities involve managing business and technology aspects of the Office of General Counsel.  Mr. Akers supervises and coordinates OGC’s hiring committee, professional responsibility training initiatives, and intern/extern programs.  He is responsible for OGC’s law practice management, legal technology, and risk management initiatives, as well as overall management of outside counsel who perform legal services for OGC agency offices, including those firms who have been qualified to serve as bond counsel in Commonwealth matters. 

Mr. Akers’ principal areas of legal expertise are in information technology, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, electronic discovery and contracts.  He has spoken and written on numerous subjects including social media, telecommunications, utility deregulation, and outside counsel management.  Before joining the Commonwealth, Mr. Akers worked in the private sector, then for the public, most recently serving in a unique dual capacity as Deputy Director of the City of Pittsburgh’s information resources department, as well as Special Counsel to the City’s Department of Law for technology, regulatory, and complex contract matters.
 
Mr. Akers is Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, where he teaches courses as part of that institution’s certificate program in Intellectual Property & Technology Law.  A graduate of Harvard Law School, Mr. Akers served as law clerk to the Honorable John R. Hargrove, Sr. on the United States District Court in Maryland.  He received his bachelor of arts with honors from the University of Virginia.