The University of Wisconsin System announced they will hire a new chief legal counsel for the first time in eight years Monday.

Tomas Stafford was appointed to the position of UW System’s General Counsel following a national search process, UW System spokesperson David Giroux said.

Stafford is currently serving as interim deputy general counsel and has been a UW System attorney for 10 years, according to a UW System statement.

“I’m very excited to be working with the President Reilly and the board, and to continue the good work the legal department has been doing,” Stafford said.

Stafford said the legal department deals with several issues that impact students, including shared governance issues, student discipline and determining the legality of campus initiatives and programs that direct students.

Stafford will be replacing Patricia Brady, who has been the General Counsel for the past eight years and is retiring at the end of the month, Giroux said.

Stafford said he knows Brady left big shoes for him to fill and added she has worked for the UW System for an impressive 30 years.

He added he was obviously not going to change much from what Brady was doing, but hopes to build on all of her success.

Giroux said Stafford is up to the challenge of replacing Brady and he said he has seen Stafford’s great working relationship with the Regents and with the individual chancellors across the state. Stafford’s new annual salary will be $165,000, the statement said.

The general counsel is charged with providing legal advice to the Board of Regents, UW System and the chancellors at each of the state universities, Giroux said.

He added Stafford will deal with personal issues, student affairs and campus real estate matters. There will be no vacancy in the position and it was important for them to make sure the position was filled, Giroux said.

Stafford will take over for Brady immediately after her last day Giroux said, but he was unsure of the exact day she was retiring.