Book excerpt: What can an institutional research leader do to ensure their unique roles do not place them or their institution in a legally challenging situation? In this monograph, IR practitioners, legal counselors, and scholars combine their expertise to examine unique legal challenges IR professionals face, offering guidelines for operating within legal boundaries and sustaining effective IR practices. Topics covered in this volume include: using legal precedents and law as a framework for guiding practice and policies; the latest on FERPA; dealing with security breaches; a review of employment, discrimination, harassment, intellectual property, and export control laws; recommendations for limiting liability; and how accreditation may change from voluntary to a contractual or even constitutional protections effort. This is the 172nd volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.