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[LETTERHEAD OF MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP]
EXHIBIT (I)
September 29, 2000
Commonfund Institutional Funds
15 Old Danbury Rd., P.O. Box 812
Wilton, CT 06897-0812
Re: Opinion of Counsel regarding Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the
Registration STATEMENT FILED ON FORM N-1A UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF
1933 NO. 333-85415).
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have acted as counsel to Commonfund Institutional Funds, a Delaware business
trust (the "Company"), in connection with the above-referenced Registration
Statement (as amended, the "Registration Statement") which relates to the
Company's units of beneficial interest, without par value (collectively, the
"Shares"). This opinion is being delivered to you in connection with the
Company's filing of Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement
(the "Amendment") to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
pursuant to Rule 485(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act"). With
your permission, all assumptions and statements of reliance herein have been
made without any independent investigation or verification on our part except to
the extent otherwise expressly stated, and we express no opinion with respect to
the subject matter or accuracy of such assumptions or items relied upon.
In connection with this opinion, we have reviewed, among other things, executed
copies of the following documents:
(a) a certificate of the State of Delaware as to the existence and
good standing of the Company;
(b) the Agreement and Declaration of Trust for the Company and all
amendments and supplements thereto (the "Declaration of
Trust");
(c) a certificate executed by Susan C. Mosher, Assistant Secretary
of the Company, certifying as to, and attaching copies of, the
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws
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(the "By-Laws"), and certain resolutions adopted by the Board
of Directors of the Company authorizing the issuance of the
Shares; and
(d) a printer's proof of the Amendment.
In our capacity as counsel to the Company, we have examined the originals, or
certified, conformed or reproduced copies, of all records, agreements,
instruments and documents as we have deemed relevant or necessary as the basis
for the opinion hereinafter expressed. In all such examinations, we have assumed
the legal capacity of all natural persons executing documents, the genuineness
of all signatures, the authenticity of all original or certified copies, and the
conformity to original or certified copies of all copies submitted to us as
conformed or reproduced copies. As to various questions of fact relevant to such
opinion, we have relied upon, and assume the accuracy of, certificates and oral
or written statements of public officials and officers or representatives of the
Company. We have assumed that the Amendment, as filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, will be in substantially the form of the printer's proof
referred to in paragraph (d) above.
Based upon, and subject to, the limitations set forth herein, we are of the
opinion that the Shares, when issued and sold in accordance with the Declaration
of Trust and By-Laws, and for the consideration described in the Registration
Statement, will be legally issued, fully paid and nonassessable under the laws
of the State of Delaware.
We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the
Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not concede that we are in
the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the 1933
Act.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
