Rutgers hires new lawyer after previous one retires amid scandal

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers University has hired a widely respected former state attorney general to be the school's top in-house lawyer after the last man to have that job resigned amid scandal.

The university announced Thursday that John J. Farmer is taking the job.

He is currently serving as dean of the university's Newark law school.

The position opened when John Wolf stepped down last week. He had come under criticism for approving a plan to suspend rather than fire ex-basketball coach Mike Rice when it surfaced that he threw basketballs at players and used gay slurs.

Wolf resigned entirely from the university Thursday.