While Michigan State University waits to hire its third general counsel in just over a year, its board of trustees has decided to hire a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal and to make that report public.

The timing is highly unusual. Normally a school learns of a problem and orders an internal investigation immediately. But Michigan State said June 21 it is hiring McDermott Will & Emery to conduct a probe three years after Nassar’s arrest in 2016.