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Find Lawyers in America for Education Law
Practice Area Overview
Areas of coverage for public education (pre-Kindergarten – 12) typically include:
- Board organization/operations – ethics issues, sunshine laws, public records requests, and the development/revision of policies.
- Construction – public improvements, architect and construction contracts, competitive bidding documents and procedures.
- Federal and state employment laws – Fair Labor Standards Act, Family Medical Leave Act, Title VII, Title IX, Americans With Disabilities Act, OSHA, workers’ compensation, reductions-in force, health benefits, pensions/retirement plans, tax sheltered annuities, evaluations, employment contracts.
- Financing – counseling and supervision of proceedings for debt and lease-based financing of capital improvements and for cash-flow financings including state law, federal tax, and securities law analysis and assistance.
- Labor relations and collective bargaining – employee grievances, arbitration, unfair labor practice claims, union negotiations, fact-findings, and impasse/strike preparations.
- Acquisition and disposition of property – office equipment, energy conservation measures, and the leasing, purchase, and sale of property.
- Special education law – counseling on compliance with Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, attendance at Individualized Education Program meetings, mediations, and due process hearings, staff training, legislative involvement, and court appeals.
- Student rights and responsibilities – custody, residency, transportation, discipline, student records/privacy, first amendment issues, and tuition.
- Territory transfers – procedures for district reorganization including annexation, consolidation and transfer.
- Board of trustee meetings, functions, and resolutions
- Bond financing
- Bylaws, faculty guidelines and administrative manuals
- Litigation over testamentary gifts
- Executive compensation
- Development, fundraising, and implementation of gifts
- Taxation of income from ancillary sources
- Intellectual property ownership and licensing
Susan C. Hastings
Richard D. Manoloff
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Meg Alli has focused her practice on the representation and counseling of management concerning the umbrella of employment laws and regulations affecting corporate clients, not-for-profit organizations and educational institutions. She has defended employers, schools and colleges in state and federal courts, administrative agencies and arbitration proceedings. Meg has also served as select counsel for employment practices liability insurance carriers and represented employers in wage/hour lit...
Peter Barry devotes a substantial portion of his practice to advising tax-exempt organizations, including healthcare and education clients with regard to their activities, with particular emphasis in complex contractual matters, including mergers, affiliations, acquisitions and divestitures. Peter is recognized as a Top-Rated Lawyer in health care by Martindale-Hubbell®, has served as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Public Charities Divisio...
Michelle H. Basi practices primarily in the areas of education, special education, litigation, and labor and employment law. Michelle regularly advises school districts and charter schools on student matters, including special education and Section 504 compliance, First Amendment rights, Title IX compliance and student discipline. Michelle also advises schools districts and charter schools on employment matters, including Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the FMLA, and the Teacher Tenure Act. Mic...
During his four decades with Stuart & Branigin Tony has been witness to and participated in extensive changes to his firm, his community and his practice areas. Tony was recently elected by his partners to serve as the firm's first Managing Partner. He also currently serves as Secretary and General Counsel for Greater Lafayette Commerce, an umbrella agency promoting regional economic development with its goal to make West Central Indiana the "Place of Choice" for businesses, industry and ...
A native of Maryland and a former wrestler and wrestling coach, and now an avid rock climber, Jonathan Blumberg graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an undergraduate degree in philosophy in 1982 and a law degree, with honors, in 1986. He served two years as a law clerk for Judge Eugene Gordon in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina before joining Tharrington Smith in 1988. Mr. Blumberg works in education law, employment law ...
Celynda L. Brasher is a founding shareholder of the firm. She practices in the areas of education, litigation, and labor and employment law. Celynda represents numerous school districts throughout Missouri. She regularly advises boards of education and administrators on matters involving employee hiring, evaluation, remediation, and termination; student rights and discipline; special education; school finance; civil rights; contracts; the Missouri Open Meetings Act; church/state issues; and a...
Mr. Brooks has extensive experience in corporate and civil rights litigation and represents a number of school systems in north Alabama and several corporate clients. He has represented clients in a broad range of litigation involving federal and state issues. Mr. Brooks has represented a variety of public- and private-sector employers in Title VII, ADA, ADEA, and wrongful termination claims. He has also represented several corporate clients in complex commercial litigation involving, for exa...
A certified specialist in employment and labor law since 1993, M. Malissa Burnette has an extensive history of working toward workplace and social justice. She also has a wealth of experience in family law, personal injury, sexual harassment and discrimination law as well. She practices in state and federal courts, primarily representing individuals in complex employment cases involving discrimination, civil and constitutional rights, breach of contract, covenants to not compete, employment-r...
Bob Cannella is a native Nebraskan who has practiced law at the firm since graduating from law school in 1972. Bob’s principal legal activities are in the areas of higher education law and the counseling and representation of employers in employment, labor relations, employment discrimination, and preventive employment law matters. Bob fills the lead role in the firm’s representation of Metropolitan Community College, and in that role he works closely with the administration and B...
Mrs. Carter clerked for the Honorable Sonny Hornsby, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, from 1994-1995 and has been practicing law with Hill Hill Carter since 1995. Ms. Carter handles all aspects of employment relations for employers across the southeast including business development and planning regarding employees, negotiation of key employment contracts, handbook development, internal investigations, employee training and ultimately litigation when necessary. The employment areas...
Jason Clagg is a labor and employment lawyer who also serves as vice chair of the firm's Higher Education group. Jason is personally dedicated to providing his clients with prompt attention and clear, definitive guidance. With a practice focused exclusively on management interests, Jason routinely represents employers in state and federal court, before administrative agencies such as the Department of Labor (DOL), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the Equal Employment Opportunity...
Kimberly S. Croyle is a partner in the Morgantown office of Bowles Rice and a member of the Energy and Real Estate Development practice group. Ms. Croyle provides guidance and counsel in the areas of mineral energy production, including property acquisition, litigation matters involving real estate, curative action, title examinations and other issues generated by the mining industry. She is active in the areas of land use and development, representing developers in commercial and residential...
Janilyn Daub defends employers in labor and employment litigation in federal and state courts, as well as before various governmental agencies, such as the OFCCP, EEOC and NLRB. She is dedicated to helping her clients with the legal issues that arise when managing a workforce, navigating them through the challenges they face while seeking to mitigate future problems and liability. With a practice that is national in scope, Janilyn frequently advises clients on issues related to affirmative ac...
Mr. Dorsey is involved in a wide variety of general and special labor relations and employment issues including union representation elections, contract negotiations and administration, unfair labor practice charges and employment discrimination matters in both the public and private sectors. Mr. Dorsey focuses his practice in the area of labor and education law, representing municipalities and boards of education in all aspects of labor relations and school-related claims, including contract...
Practicing law since 1979, Taylor Porter Partner Nancy C. Dougherty is experienced in several practice areas, including higher education law, non-profit and charitable foundation work, governmental law, real estate transactions, museum law, and healthcare. Ms. Dougherty is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, ranked by Best Lawyers in America, and is a former "Influential Women in Business" honoree by Baton Rouge Business Report for both her professional accomplishments and her contribu...
Char Eberhardt, a partner in the firm's Labor & Employment practice, focuses on public and private sector labor relations, and class action litigation. He provides counseling on administrative proceedings, grievance arbitration and wage-and-hour issues. He has extensive experience representing clients, such as The Boeing Company, in high-stakes arbitration matters, including subcontractor arbitration disputes. He also handles a wide range of public sector labor matters, including teacher ...
Dean has extensive experience representing school districts throughout the state in matters involving general school law and federal special education law. He is also an AV-rated jury trial lawyer with trial experience in the area of commercial litigation, products liability defense and municipal representation. He has represented manufacturers, distributors, banks, retailers and developers in complex commercial litigation, including computer conversion, anti-trust, products liability, breach...
Siran is a partner in the firm’s State Attorneys General and Enforcement Actions & Investigations practices. As such, she advises clients on a wide variety of state and federal regulatory matters, with a special emphasis on state consumer protection laws, including matters involving consumer financial services, data security, advertising and marketing. A former Senior Assistant Attorney General, Siran uses expertise gained in public service to resolve issues with state investigators...
For over forty years, Mike’s practice has been devoted to the exclusive representation of employers and their management teams in dealing with the full range of labor and employment issues. He has represented employers in contract negotiations with virtually every major union in the U.S. and Canada. Throughout his career he has focused on representing health care and higher education institutions, as well as manufacturing companies and service organizations. Mike’s practice also i...
Mr. Garner, a Member of the firm is a trial lawyer specializing in commercial and complex litigation. He has been lead counsel in cases in New Mexico, California, West Virginia, Kansas, Arizona, Indiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, involving complex and class action litigation ranging from asbestos exposure, benzene exposure, mass closings of big box retailers, noise pollution, commercial, banking, bankruptcy and financial litigation. He is admitted to practice before the fede...
Jeanine M. Gozdecki, a partner in the firm's Labor & Employment Department, has spent more than 25 years representing, counseling, and advocating for her business clients in virtually all aspects of the employment relationship. Recognized by Best Lawyers in America, including as a Best Lawyers Women in the Law for her employment law work, and as "Lawyer of the Year" in 2013, Jeanine works collaboratively with her clients to pre-empt and minimize legal risks, and improve productivity and b...
· Served as a law clerk for United States District Court Judge James B. McMillan in Charlotte; partner in the firm of Ferguson Stein Chambers Gresham & Sumter, PA, until retirerment in 2010 and partner Tin, Fulton Walker and Owen 2011-present · Practice areas are employment litigation and negotiation, public employee rights, constitutional law, general civil litigation, appellate practice, and personal injury. · Recognized by his peers for his work in employment and c...
Chrissy Hamiel concentrates her practice on assisting school districts, private schools, and charters schools on all aspects of law surrounding education. As the proud daughter of public school educators, Chrissy has always had a passion for education which uniquely enhances her understanding of, and guidance provided to, schools. Chrissy counsels districts on challenging legal matters involving students, educators, staff, administrators and school boards, and has been a leader in providing c...
Christopher Heller works primarily in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Labor and Employment Law and Education Law. The majority of his practice consists of trial and appellate work. He primarily represents businesses and public entities in class actions and other cases involving natural resources, insurance, trade secrets, employment, civil rights, education, contracts and other issues. Chris is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation, Bet-the-Company Litigation, La...
Margaret A. Hesse primarily practices in the areas of education law, employment law, and litigation. She has represented school districts in employment matters, including Title VII, the Safe Schools Act, Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Equal Pay Act. She has represented employers in labor matters before the United States Department of Labor/Wage and Hour Division, the Illinois Commission on Human Rights and the Illinois Educatio...
Matt represents public school districts and school entities as solicitor, labor counsel, and special counsel. He also serves private sector clients predominantly in general commercial litigation, most frequently in construction-related disputes. Education Law: Matt currently serves as solicitor for various school entities throughout Western Pennsylvania, including several public school districts and vocational-technical schools. As solicitor for these entities, his experience includes: Review...
Valerie Hughes, a partner with the firm's Labor and Employment practice, has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of employment litigation, discrimination and harassment litigation, collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, and administrative proceedings. In addition to her representation of private employers, Val provides general counsel representation to Washington school districts, including state and federal court litigation and administrative hearings.
Elizabeth A. Kaleva is an attorney in Missoula, Montana, focusing her practice on representation of public and private school districts throughout the state of Montana, as well as the Montana High School Association. Bea graduated from Boston College in 1991, and the University of Montana School of Law in 1995. After clerking for a year, Bea joined the Montana School Boards Association as a staff attorney. She rose to the General Counsel position and remained with the MTSBA until 2003, when s...
Mark Kapocius is a school attorney with more than twenty years of experience working in administrative leadership roles for school districts in Wisconsin. As a Shareholder in the Government Law Group and School Law Section at von Briesen & Roper, s.c., Mark focuses his practice on school law and advising other public-sector entities on labor and employment matters, governance issues, collective bargaining, public records and open meetings compliance. Mark has extensive experience assistin...
Melanie Gurley Keeney practices in the areas of education, higher education, labor and employment, and immigration law. Her experience in education law includes representing school districts and institutions of higher education regarding various personnel and student matters, including tenure, terminations, discrimination, First Amendment, discipline, special education, Title IX, sexual discrimination, § 1983 claims, Open Meetings law, OCR complaints and other issues. Melanie represents ...
Paul G. Lannon Jr. is a partner in Holland & Knight's Litigation Section and a member of the firm's Labor, Employment and Benefits Group and Energy Team. He is co-chair of the Education Team and chair of the Non-Competition, Trade Secrets and Employee Defection Team. Mr. Lannon represents public and private companies in complex civil litigation, counsels businesses on asset protection and workplace issues, and advocates for management in employment disputes. Mr. Lannon also serves as the ...
Michelle C. Laubin is a senior partner in the firm's Milford office. Her practice focuses on education law, particularly special education law and student matters. Ms. Laubin has represented school districts in countless student discipline and special education matters, including attending planning and placement team (PPT) meetings, negotiation of settlement and mediation agreements, representation in expulsion and due process hearings, as well as resolution of State Department of Education c...
Practicing law since 1997, Amy Groves Lowe is a Partner at Taylor Porter, where she has a litigation practice in various areas of law, including insurance defense, labor and employment, education law, administrative law, appellate practice, and church property law. Amy has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America (peer-voted) in two areas: Education Law, for her work representing universities and high schools in labor and employment issues and insurance defense, and Litigation &...
Lloyd J. Lunceford serves as Of Counsel at Taylor Porter where he has been practicing law since 1984. Mr. Lunceford is engaged in a general civil practice with emphases in higher education, mass communications, commercial litigation, and church property laws. He also has expertise in the application of the Louisiana Public Records and Open Meetings Acts, which affect all municipal, parish, and state agencies. Mr. Lunceford is admitted to practice in all Louisiana state courts, in the federal ...
Miriam J. McKendall is co-chair of the Education Team and concentrates her practice in employment law, education law and related litigation. She provides counseling to clients in employment related issues, such as investigation and defense of sexual harassment and discrimination claims; development of disability and reasonable accommodations policies and procedures; wage and hour compliance and defense of audits and claims; defense of claims pending at the MCAD, EEOC, DOL, OCR, DOE, and state...
Art Melendres concentrates his practice primarily in administrative, education, commercial and municipal finance law. For more than thirty-five years, clients have sought Art’s expertise when faced with disputes involving education, administrative law, commercial law or public financing. For more than twenty-five years, Art has served as general counsel for the Albuquerque Public Schools, a school district of more than 90,000 students and 11,000 employees. He regularly advises the Schoo...
Attorney Moses has practiced law with Berchem Moses PC and its predecessor firm since 1976. She is a senior partner and the firm’s managing partner. Attorney Moses received a B.A. from Miami University in 1970 and graduated summa cum laude from Wayne State University Law School in 1975. Her area of concentration is education law; Attorney Moses has been representing boards of education in all areas of regular and special education law since 1976 and she chairs the firm’s Education...
Experience Mr. Mullins concentrates his practice in the areas of litigating personal injury and commercial matters, as well as liability and discrimination actions brought both on behalf of or against the Firm’s wide variety of clients, including cities, counties, school districts, universities, hospitals, manufacturers, professional corporations and various other entities, in conjunction with both insured and self-insured programs. Tim has considerable litigation experience representin...
Originally from Michigan, Carolyn Murchison moved to North Carolina after obtaining her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She received her law degree with honors from the University of North Carolina, where she was an editor of North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, a Daniel H. Pollitt Fellow and a member of the James E. and Carolyn B. Davis Society. Prior to joining Tharrington Smith in 2000, Ms. Murchison was a policy analyst f...
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The Process
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