Until 1975, the Johns Hopkins University had no internal Office of General Counsel but instead consulted local attorneys or law firms to undertake any necessary legal work. During the first seventy-five years of its existence, the University relied heavily on its own trustees for legal services, as many of them were attorneys. On the first Board of Trustees was Charles J. M. Gwinn, who handled Johns Hopkins' will, and Reverdy Johnson, Jr., who conducted the negotiations for the appointment of Daniel C. Gilman as first president of the University. Richard M. Venable, who served on the Board from 1898 to 1910, directed the consolidation of all the gifts of land that went to make up the Homewood Campus. In fact, the prominent Baltimore law firm of Venable, Baetjer and Howard (of which Hopkins trustee Edwin G. Baetjer was also a partner) continued to serve the University for many years. Other trustees who performed legal services for Hopkins include Carlyle Barton, Eli Frank and John J. McCloy. During this period of informal counsel, important legal documents were stored in the Office of the Treasurer.

On July 1, 1951, the law firm of Niles, Barton and Wilmer began providing legal services to the University on retainer, and Charles E. Quandt, who was originally with the Applied Physics Laboratory, served the University on behalf of the firm on a half-time basis. Niles, Barton and Wilmer subcontracted some types of legal services to other firms or attorneys; Walter Finch, for example, handled patent applications for the University. In 1973, Frederick T. DeKuyper, Labor Relations Officer, Personnel, began to practice law informally at the University and, the following year, Robert C. Bowie, Vice President for Business Management, requested that he prepare a management paper addressing the question: should the University form its own internal legal office or continue to use outside counsel? The administration decided to establish the Office of General Counsel due to the increased litigation in American society, the Federal Government's regulation of various aspects of the University's academic and non-academic activities, and the new and, at times, complex business and other relationships the University was entering into with outside parties.

In August 1975, Estelle A. Fishbein was appointed General Counsel, and Frederick T. DeKuyper was named Assistant General Counsel. In 1991, the position of General Counsel was elevated to the status of a vice presidency and Estelle Fishbein became Vice President and General Counsel.