areas of expertise

School District Experience

Because of the number of school district clients represented by the Firm, our attorneys’ experience is necessarily broad. We provide legal counsel and advice in all areas of school law including the following areas: labor negotiations; contract administration; client representation relative to unfair labor practice charges, including interest and grievance arbitrations; employment discrimination defense; alien employees; state and federal school law litigation; school finance; school construction contracts and architects’ contract review; teacher discipline and dismissal proceedings; student discipline proceedings; student residency; defense of tax objections; property assessment proceedings; school personal injury; unemployment compensation; workers’ compensation defense; school election matters; and school desegregation matters. We regularly consult with clients and are asked to present in-service presentations relative to practical educational issues including: improving minority student achievement within school integration and equity audit procedures; site-based management; sexual harassment; acceptable use of technology, on-campus/off-campus; accommodation of disabled employees; teacher evaluation and remediation; and advising school administrators relative to various employment and tax issues involved in individual employment agreements.

Litigation Experience

The Firm’s attorneys’ litigation experience is equally broad. Our attorneys routinely litigate the following claims: employment discrimination claims; constitutional rights claims; desegregation and racial equity claims; special education disputes; injunctive proceedings; contract disputes; annexation and detachment disputes; and personal injury and tort claims. Our clients use our services in federal and state courts and in administrative proceedings before federal agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education, and before State agencies such as the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Illinois Human Rights Commission, the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the Illinois Department of Labor and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. We regularly represent our school district clients in special education due process hearings and tenured teacher dismissal hearings before the Illinois State Board of Education. We provide counsel in student suspension/expulsion proceedings and issues involving students’ rights, including student expression and other constitutional issues, for example, searches.

Municipal Law Experience

The Firm’s attorneys are well versed in municipal law.  Our attorneys have served as village attorneys, corporation counsel and special counsel for numerous Chicagoland municipalities handling a variety of issues. The Firm is active in the Illinois Municipal League, the Local Government Section of the Illinois Bar Association, and the Chicago Bar Association Committee on Local Government.

Labor Relations Experience

Our attorneys have unparalleled experience in the area of collective bargaining, having bargained with professional employees, educational support personnel, bus drivers, and custodians in school districts and in special education and vocational education cooperatives, as well as with county governments and municipalities. Our many years of practice have afforded us a wide range of experiences in different bargaining models and styles. As a firm that represents management in labor relations, it is our philosophy that bargaining objectives and strategies should be driven by the need to preserve and maximize management flexibility and to achieve outcomes which are consistent with goals and objectives set by the Board of Education, the Superintendent and the administrative team. We work with the client to determine the tone, style and substance to be brought to negotiation sessions with the relevant employee groups.

No Cost Services Provided

Our firm provides a number of free services to its clients, including publications, in-services, and client seminars.

The Firm’s publications include (for more detail, please visit our “News and Publications” Web page):

• e–Blackboard – Periodic memoranda informing clients of relevant changes in the law.
• Election Law Manual - an annual publication apprising clients of laws related to school board member and referenda elections.
• Newsletter - a quarterly newsletter offering comments on topics in school law.

The Firm also offers two annual “School Law Seminars,” to which all clients are invited to attend, free of charge. The first seminar is intended to address areas of particular interest to board members. The second seminar is intended to address the day to day operational issues encountered by school administrators. The Firm also occasionally offers other seminars, including those related to new laws affecting school administrators, or those geared toward administrators and their day-to-day tasks.

The Firm offers five (5) free hours of in-service training annually. The training may be divided between administrators and board members, and is available on numerous topics.