Overview
Our clients have come to depend on the decades of collective experience held by the members of the firm’s Education Industry Team when they require assistance navigating the legal, operational, and economic issues that are top of mind in education today—and when seeking guidance to traverse the relationships characteristic to these issues. Our attorneys provide a full spectrum of legal services on a cost-effective basis, including counseling and administrative training on labor and employment and other issues, litigation in state and federal courts, serving as financing and bond counsel, drafting policies, and guiding internal investigations. We represent nationally renowned public and private universities, colleges, community colleges, independent schools, public school academies, public school districts, vocational and for-profit institutions, foundations, education technology companies, and other entities associated with this sector.
Understanding the unique legal needs of academic institutions is our forte. Our Education Industry Team has extensive experience including governance, student accommodation, student discipline and dismissal, faculty dismissal and de-tenure proceedings, due process, and Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) issues. The Team’s expertise additionally includes representation in matters such as intellectual property (patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret matters), Clery Act, Title VI and IX, Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act, civil rights, statutory discrimination and harassment claims, free speech, religious accommodation, Open Meetings Act (OMA), and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) compliance.
Complex compensation and employee benefit issues that educational institutions regularly face are also within our expertise. Butzel attorneys have represented educational institutions in dozens of grievance arbitrations and in collective bargaining negotiations including faculty negotiations. Our attorneys advise on addressing high legacy retirement costs and provide problem-solving strategies. And in addition to providing counsel and representation, our attorneys routinely formulate and conduct training sessions for faculty and staff on student classroom and clinical accommodation, statutory compliance, harassment avoidance, and other issues.
Butzel attorneys keep ahead of topics trending in the education industry and frequently share their knowledge with others through a variety of publications, speaking engagements, and events. Our Education Industry Team recently held a panel discussion and networking opportunity for clients and others that covered topics including campus investigations and advancing science and technology to combat growing security concerns.
We’re accustomed to being involved in the industries we serve. Many of our attorneys chair and serve on the boards of various types of academic institutions. Several members of the Education Industry Team lecture at colleges and universities, serve as adjunct faculty, are positioned in leadership roles in major Education Law conferences, and are members of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA).
