"She had to do something," McCombe said. "I think she was pressured to do it."
University Attorney Allan A. Ryan Jr. said Marshall hired her a lawyer from her own firm because of his credentials alone.
"She knew he'd give her the straight skinny," Ryan said."She did not do anything improper," Ryan added. "There's simply nothing here."
The controversy over Marshall's conduct as Harvard General Counsel comes at a time when her nomination is already hotly contested.
Members of the governor's council, who will vote on her nomination on Oct. 13, are sharply divided over her candidacy, with some saying she lacks sufficient judicial experience to hold the post.
And last week, Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Francis Law '53 wrote in a private letter to Cellucci that he fears Marshall may hold anti-Catholic views. As Harvard's General Counsel, she admonished a Catholic professor at the law school for using Harvard stationary to voice anti-abortion sentiments.
After speaking with Marshall, the Cardinal said this week that he neither supports nor opposes her nomination.
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