in 1998, krislov became the first person to serve as both vice president and general counsel at the university of michigan. as general counsel to the university, he dispensed legal services on matters ranging from defending affirmative action to appealing penalties levied against the michigan wolverines basketball team by the national collegiate athletic association. krislov led the defense of university of michigan in gratz vs bollinger where the us supreme court upheld appeals and lower court findings that the university's admissions practices based on race were unconstitutional although upholding the concepts of affirmative action in admissions. an offshoot of the case was that the plaintiff, jennifer gratz, was inspired to later found the michigan civil rights initiative that led in the passage of michigan constitutional amendment that prohibited discrimination against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.