HIGHER EDUCATION
With more than 110 years of practice in the state of Missouri, Lewis Rice has a long history of successfully representing public and private higher education institutions.
Our attorneys have served as special counsel for colleges and universities in employment litigation and health care projects. We have represented our clients in dozens of employment discrimination cases filed in state and federal courts throughout Missouri. The firm also has extensive experience litigating Title IX and student discipline cases
Many of the Lewis Rice education attorneys are active members of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA). We draw on this association and the relationships we have built within the organization to coordinate and collaborate on cases.
KEY CONTACT
Our Approach
We take a proactive approach to meeting our clients’ unique and dynamic needs. Our team strives to prevent and minimize liability and legal expenses. We provide regular, systematic training designed to continually inform clients and ensure they are updated on developments at the local, state and federal levels. This helps ensure current best practices are incorporated into their policies, procedures and regulations.
Our Services
-
Our team provides counsel on a wide variety of student disciplinary and employment matters. We have helped institutions navigate high-profile faculty separations, negotiated employment agreements with university leaders, and managed some of the most complex student conduct issues.
-
Our litigators have decades of experience managing high-profile Title IX investigation and litigation. In fact, our practice group leaders litigated the leading case establishing the “deliberate indifference” standard in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, we support our clients during investigations and reviews from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.
-
Our team advises clients on the agreements that structure campus life, from enrollment agreements to vendor contracts to gift agreements and grant funded affiliation agreements.
-
Our team reviews, modifies, and drafts policies and procedures across all departments and divisions. In addition, we work with Boards of Trustees to improve policies and practices as they relate to board governance.
-
Our team has worked with clients on major real estate developments, including securing public funding, negotiating construction agreements, and structuring public-private partnerships.
-
Our team has helped countless colleges and universities protect and maximize the value of their intellectual property, ensure cybersecurity safeguards are in place, leverage campus technology, and mitigate the risk of data breach.
-
Our team offers first-in-class training and counseling on evolving issues and best practices. We are regularly on campuses to provide training sessions for the institution’s faculty, staff, and administration in the following areas: labor and employment best practices, Title IX and sexual misconduct, board governance, and mitigating risk in the awarding of scholarships and financial aid.
