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Business & Transactional

The Business and Transactional Practice Group supports the institution’s mission by providing comprehensive legal counsel on corporate, regulatory, and operational matters. The group negotiates, drafts, and manages a wide range of complex agreements that enable academic, clinical, research, and business activities to operate effectively within highly regulated environments.

Beyond transactional work, the team partners with institutional leadership to provide guidance on policy development, governance, board and affiliated‑entity matters, training initiatives, and the administration of contract management and document systems. The group’s work is closely integrated with the academic medical center, research enterprise, and affiliated entities, ensuring practical, mission‑aligned legal support across the institution.

Areas of Responsibility

  • Corporate and transactional legal support, including drafting, negotiation, and management of complex agreements
  • Healthcare and regulatory matters, including HIPAA, CMS requirements, fraud and abuse, managed care, and 340B compliance
  • Academic medical center and clinical operations support, including professional services, telemedicine, education affiliations
  • Data privacy, information security, and technology matters, including GDPR, data use agreements, software licensing, and IT risk management
  • Governance and affiliated‑entity support, including board reporting, entity governance, signature authority, and policy interpretation
  • Financial, investment, and enterprise operations matters, including athletics, bond financings, purchasing, supply chain, energy procurement, and major vendor agreements
  • Contract administration and institutional operations, including contract management systems, document management, training, and template development

FAQs

Affiliated Entities

The Office of Legal Affairs oversees the University’s policy on Affiliated Entities. 

Resources:
Affiliate Annual Report Template
Affiliate Considerations

Please contact Matthew Albers with any questions regarding Affiliated Entities. 

Contract Signature Authority

Pursuant to applicable provisions of the Ohio Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code, contracts binding on the University may only be executed by those University officials who have received delegated signature authority from the University’s Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees has delegated signature authority for the vast majority of University contracts to the President and/or the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

The Senior Vice President for Business and Finance and Chief Financial Officer may and does delegate signature authority on an annual basis to University employees in certain University departments and units typically for form agreements which have been previously reviewed and approved by the Office of Legal Affairs.

Failure to ensure that the appropriate signature authority is obtained or executing a contract on behalf of the University without requisite authority may result in personal liability for any employee who executed the contract and for employees involved in the transaction.

If you have questions about who is authorized to sign a contract on behalf of the University, please contact the Office of Business and Finance.

Resources:
Electronic Signature Rules
Guide to Implementing Electronic Signatures

Please contact Cynthia Watkins for any questions regarding contract signature authority within the Office of Legal Affairs. 

Contract Management

The Office of Legal Affairs utilizes two contract management systems. OnBase is used for University contract management, and MediTract is used for the Wexner Medical Center. 

OnBase: University Contract Management

OnBase is an enterprise-wide tool used by The Ohio State University to store and manage data. Access is granted by department managers for specific uses. The Office of Legal Affairs only oversees the portion of OnBase used for contract management. For all other functions, please reach out to the IT Help desk at 614-688-4357 (HELP) or email. 

The Office of Legal Affairs utilizes OnBase for contract management within the University for all contracts requiring signature by the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance & CFO. If you have questions related to contract processing, please reach out to your Unit or College Senior Fiscal Officer.  

Resources
OnBase - University Contract Management
OnBase - User Guide

Please contact Caitlin Near with any questions regarding OnBase. 

MediTract: WMC Contract Management

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center implemented an electronic contract management system (MediTract) to process all medical center contracts for legal review, approval, and signature. MediTract is managed through the Office of Legal Affairs, and hosts a contract library and a contract process management system. The contract library is a secure electronic contract repository housing all medical center executed contracts. The contract processing system allows all proposed contracts to be processed, negotiated, and executed through a shared electronic portal.

Access to General Contracts in MediTract is coordinated through Cynthia Watkins. If you think you need access and would like to learn more about MediTract and department contracting needs, please contact Cynthia Watkins.  Access to Managed Care, PLO, Non-FGP, and Non-Salaried faculty Orgs is coordinated through Beth Ferris. 

Once access is approved, Beth Ferris can help facilitate training to gain entry to the MediTract system. General Contracts training is housed in a BuckeyeLearn training module.  The training for General Contracts is entitled "Contract Management System – MediTract."

Resources
MediTract - WMC Contract Management

Please contact Beth Ferris if you experience any errors while using MediTract or have trouble logging in. 

Contact Information

Please contact Matt Albers for general information or questions regarding the Business and Transactional practice group. 

Business and Transactional Practice Group Leadership

Business & Transactional Group Contact List