Maren Hufton

Director, Civil Rights & Compliance Office

Civil Rights & Compliance Office, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Maren Hufton is AVP, Civil Rights & Compliance, at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.  As Title IX Coordinator and Discrimination Harassment & Retaliation Administrator, Maren leads and supervises civil rights investigations and programs for the campus.  She ensures iterative process-driven systems and effective institutional responses that integrate regulatory requirements into the unique fabric of a public university. 

Maren also maintains a complementary private law practice delivering practical, risk-weighted advice and quality legal solutions to business, other higher education, law firm, and individual clients.  She handles a broad range of investigation, litigation, corporate, and compliance matters.  

Until 2019, Maren was a partner at Stradling in Newport Beach, where she represented private and publicly-traded enterprises and executives facing government inquiries and investigations, litigated complex disputes, and provided strategic corporate counsel and compliance advice.  She defended clients against accusations of fraud, inadequate accounting and disclosure, insider trading, and FCPA and FCA violations by a host of agencies and regulators, including the SEC, FDA, FCC, FINRA, and the civil and criminal divisions of the DOJ, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, state agencies like the CA Department of Corporations, and state and local law enforcement authorities in California, New York, and Florida.  

Maren's experience gives her valuable and sought-after knowledge of government, agency, and institutional operations, compliance programs, corporate life cycles and business transactions, and all phases of litigation. As a Pepperdine-trained mediator, Maren shows agility with diversity and the unexpected.  She resolves disputes and can conduct administrative hearings.  

Maren earned her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.  Active with the Association of Workplace Investigators and the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Women Lawyers Association of San Luis Obispo and served as President in 2020.  Maren is additionally a member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for the Performing Arts Center, serving on the Executive Committee as Secretary and General Counsel.