Advising clients on all aspects of educational matters

Foley Hoag’s Education Practice Group advises our public and private clients at all phases of education, from nationally prominent research universities to Massachusetts private schools.

We serve as general counsel to a number of major post-secondary and secondary institutions, providing advice on the full range of issues facing universities, colleges and schools. These matters include:

  • Institutional governance
  • Student affairs
  • Faculty and staff employment
  • Facilities
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Intellectual property
  • Risk management
  • Financial affairs
  • Litigation in a variety of disciplines

We also serve as special counsel to many other institutions, primarily focusing on patent, intellectual property and information transfer issues, as well as institutional governance. To provide our clients with the counsel needed to serve their very disparate needs, the Education Practice Group draws on knowledgeable professionals from across our firm. This close collaboration allows us, for example, to staff a research misconduct case with a scientist/lawyer, a former federal prosecutor and a regulatory compliance professional. On the other hand, a real estate development matter might be staffed with a government affairs professional, an environmental lawyer, a construction lawyer and a zoning/real estate lawyer.

Our firm’s many decades of specializing in education law and representing educational institutions enable us to respond to the needs of our clients with depth of experience and sympathy for the problems faced by educators and administrators.

Representative Experience

The following matters provide examples of the types of work we perform for our education clients:

  • We act as general counsel to Suffolk University, Emerson College, Berklee College of Music, Phillips Academy, Andover, Beaver Country Day School, Summit Montessori School and The Carroll School.
  • We represent Suffolk University, Berklee College of Music, Emerson College and the University of Massachusetts in their relationships with their unions, including faculty unions.
  • We represent Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Stanford University and MIT in matters relating to patents, intellectual property and information transfer.
  • We represent Suffolk University in the acquisition of sites, permitting and construction of its new facilities.
  • We represent institutions in sex, race and handicap discrimination cases filed by students and employees.
  • We have advised Cabrini College on matters of institutional governance and powers reserved by the religious order which founded the College.
  • We have represented universities and schools in numerous matters involving faculty promotion, tenure and/or dismissal.

Links

American Association for Higher Education (AAHE)
http://www.aahe.org/

American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Administrators (AACRAO)
http://www.aacrao.org/

American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
http://www.aaup.org/

American Council on Education (ACE)
http://www.acenet.edu/

Association for Student Judicial Affairs
http://www.asja.tamu.edu/

Association of Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM)
http://www.masscolleges.org/

Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB)
http://www.agb.org/

College and University Personnel Association (CUPA)
http://www.cupahr.org/

Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
http://www.case.org/

Higher Education Legal Managers (HELM)
http://www.asu.ed/counsel/helm

Links to Colleges and Universities in the United States (compiled by The University of Texas)
http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ

Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Division of Public Charities
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/charity/index.asp?head1=Charities§ion=18

National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA)
http://www.nacua.org/

National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)
http://www.nacubo.org/

National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
http://www.nais.org/

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
http://www.naspa.org/

National Center for Education Statistics
http://www.nces.ed.gov/

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
http://www.ncaa.org/

U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/

U.S. Department of Education Curriculum Resources Links
http://www.ed.gov/free/subject

United Educators Insurance Risk Retention Group, Inc. (UE)
http://www.ue.org/