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Employment, Media, Education and Competition Law Section
Section Head: Michael McMenamin
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Education Law Group |
Practice Group Chair: Eric J. Johnson
Drawing upon decades of experience among their respective practices, the attorneys in our Education Law Group provide excellent quality, cost-conscious legal services to public school districts, private schools and institutions of higher education across Ohio. The Education Law Group prides itself in providing comprehensive service to its clients in areas of the law as diverse as our client base itself. Our attorneys possess the capabilities to handle legal issues arising in almost all facets of school operations, including personnel, student, finance, property and any other issues that Ohio educational entities may encounter in their daily operations, including:
Labor and Employment Matters
- Employment and personnel issues, including hiring, firing, evaluation, corrective action counseling and internal investigations;
- Employment contract negotiation and drafting;
- Collective bargaining negotiations with teaching and non-teaching personnel, whether as management spokesperson or from behind the scenes;
- Arbitration of discipline and contract interpretation challenges, grievance processing and consultation on the interpretation and application of collective bargaining agreements;
- Employee benefits issues, including pension issues under SERS and STRS; and
- Workers’ compensation, including administrative and judicial proceedings.
Litigation and Compliance Counseling
- Litigation of employment-related claims, various tort and personal injury actions, contractual disputes with third parties, constitutional challenges, public records disputes and defending against temporary restraining orders and injunctive actions; and
- Compliance with federal, state and local civil rights and employment laws, including FLSA, FMLA, Title VII, Title IX, ADA and the Ohio Civil Rights Act.
Board Governance and Public Body Obligations
- Board policy audits as well as the formulation, implementation and administration of policy and corresponding guidelines;
- Contract advice, guidance and drafting including, but not limited to third-party agreements;
- Board governance and ethics issues; and
- Public records and open meetings laws, along with state and federal privacy concerns of employees and students.
Property, Tax and Environmental Issues
- Real estate issues, including sales and purchases of land and facilities, tax abatement and TIF matters;
- Construction issues, including competitive bidding, contract review, contractor disputes and related issues;
- Advice and counsel on the range of federal and state tax issues; and
- Environmental counseling and energy utilization and conservation assessments.
Technology and Intellectual Property Issues
- Technology in education, including appropriate use of Internet and electronic mail resources and regulation of Web sites, podcasting and other technology-based learning methods;
- Telecommunications and cable television-related matters; and
- Copyright issues in education, including advice on fair use, compilation of multimedia presentations and the interplay of licensing agreements.
In addition to representing clients in various administrative and judicial forums, our attorneys are able to perform on-site training and topic-specific workshops on issues affecting Ohio educational entities.
Our attorneys are frequent speakers on various issues affecting Ohio schools at events sponsored by both private and public organizations serving the education field. Likewise, members of the Education Law Group have written numerous articles on issues impacting almost all of the areas listed above.
Consistent with its commitment to keep clients abreast of developments in the law, the Education Law Group will be unveiling a quarterly newsletter on legal issues impacting the industry in September and frequently disseminates client alerts on developments affecting its education clients.
Attorneys Practicing In This Area
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