NOT JUST LAWYERS, HIGHER ED LAWYERS
Attorneys in Saul Ewing's Higher Education Practice Group provide trusted "one-stop" legal services shopping for institutions of higher education. We value the opportunity to handle a wide range of legal matters for large public and private universities, small independent colleges and universities, community colleges, and a myriad of institutions affiliated with higher education.
Recognizing that the legal challenges facing colleges and universities can touch almost any corner of the law, our Higher Education Practice Group is comprised of lawyers from across the Firm and multiple legal disciplines. Our members include attorneys from Saul Ewing’s Litigation, Business, Real Estate, Personal Wealth, Estates and Trusts, and Public Finance departments, as well as the firm’s Intellectual Property and Technology, Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits, Charitable Giving, Construction, Corporate Governance, and Tax practice groups. While attorneys in our Higher Education practice have experience addressing a wide range of legal needs across numerous industries, they understand and appreciate the unique nature of issues faced by postsecondary institutions. In fact, one member of the practice group served for several years as General Counsel to a major university, giving us the benefit of a vantage point rarely achieved by outside counsel.
RECOGNIZING THE NEEDS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
It is one thing to know the law, but it is quite another to understand how that law intersects with life on a college or university campus. Our attorneys bring that practical understanding to the table when representing institutions. We are experienced in the diverse legal issues facing the Higher Education community, including those relating to:
- Tenure challenges
- Discrimination claims
- Corporate governance and Sarbanes-Oxley
- Whistleblowers on campus
- Real estate development and campus expansion, including construction and bond work
- Records retention policies and schedules
- Intellectual property and technology transfer
- Research and clinical trial protocols
- Research Misconduct claims
- Security and premises liability challenges of an open, active campus
- Background checks (for students, staff, and others on campus)
- Access and affordability
- Federal Student Aid program reviews, audits and appeals
- State appropriations for higher education, including community colleges
- Student loan debt issues
- Student privacy issues
- Challenges to student conduct sanctions
- Student deaths
- Student sexual assaults and related Title IX issues
- Alcohol policies and consumption on campus
- First Amendment freedoms of students and student groups
- Endowment challenges
- Virtual campuses (sanctioned and not)
- The impact of technology on education and tuition
REPRESENTATIVE EDUCATION LAW MATTERS
In recent years, our Higher Education team has provided sophisticated legal services to numerous institutions of higher education, ranging from policy drafting and review to student assault response guidance, from major liability defense work to tenure disputes, from serving as financing/bond counsel to facilitating real estate development, from defending against claims of discrimination to establishing Tech Transfer offices, and much more. Here's just a sampling of our experience:
LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
- Represented Pennsylvania community college in a very sensitive employment discharge case involving a high-ranking school official
- Defended major Ivy League university against claim filed by former employee alleging that University provided defamatory information to a subsequent prospective employer
- Defended public university against First Amendment claims brought by tenured professor
- Defended public university against claim of wrongful termination brought by research professor
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
- Scrutinized entire catalog of prominent Pennsylvania liberal arts college and assisted college in implementing various clarifications and changes to policies and procedures, particularly those involving student discipline and internal student conduct board
- Performed comprehensive and now annual review of student code of conduct for large, publicly assisted university
- Advised Ivy League university regarding permissible discipline against student who falsified certain financial aid information
- Reviewed and revised bylaws of Maryland liberal arts college
- Established records management policies and retention schedules for multiple institutions
- Advised publicly assisted university regarding its admission policies in light of federal law regarding admission of undocumented aliens
- Advised regarding review of alcohol policies
- Advised regarding review of sexual assault policies
MAJOR PREMISES LIABILITY DEFENSE
- Successfully obtained dismissal for an Ivy League university in student suicide litigation
- Obtained summary judgment in Pennsylvania state court for large university in a case filed by parking garage employee intentionally struck by automobile
- Defended several colleges and universities against variety of major premises liability cases, including: blind graduate student who fell into excavated hole near campus; graduate art student burned while working on sculpture project after business hours; women’s crew team member killed during race; employee intentionally assaulted by prowler in early-morning attack; chemistry student injured outside of laboratory; employee injured in elevator malfunction; and visiting parent struck by bicyclist on campus
- Defended wrongful death suit claiming university dorm security breached standard of care
OTHER LITIGATION DEFENSE
- Defended a university against challenges to use of its endowment
- Defended against Free Speech claims by student suspended for posting disturbing web material
- Defended against Freedom of Association challenge to suspension of fraternities
- Defended ophthalmologic institution against claim that it improperly participated in scientific clinical study
- Defended college against claim that veterinary professor provided allegedly negligent advice regarding equine drugs
- Defended a university against claims of improper receipt and use of donated human tissue
- Defended Maryland community college against student's claim that College provided a "warranty" with regard to its services
- Represented school in Title IV federal student aid program review appeal to the United States Department of Education
- Defended university physical therapy clinic in malpractice action
FINANCING
- Bond counsel for various colleges and universities, including University of Delaware, Temple University, and Drexel University
- Secured financing for Bucks County and Montgomery County Community Colleges in Pennsylvania
- Structured financing for new bookstore for private University using New Market Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits
REAL ESTATE
- Negotiated acquisition, financing, design and construction agreements in connection with an internationally-renowned museum and art school’s expansion into another facility, and the agreements pursuant to which the institution is moving from its current facilities to make way for the expansion of a convention center
- Negotiated the acquisition of abandoned Chrysler assembly plant, obtaining approval from bankruptcy court
- Negotiated agreements, and obtained all necessary approvals and variances, for expansion of a Delaware-based city college's main campus
- Frequently work with local and state agencies to obtain approvals for various colleges and universities
CORPORATE / PROPRIETARY
- Negotiated and drafted numerous contracts between colleges and providers of proprietary educational products
- Prepared proposal for privatization of research facility at a public university
FACULTY/CREDENTIALING
- Obtained dismissal on behalf of Ivy League veterinary professor who was sued by a racehorse trainer as a result of Professor's actions in certifying racehorses
- Counseled Philadelphia-based college through process of terminating tenured professor
- Assisted a college in collective bargaining negotiations with employee's union and provided labor advice
ACTIVE IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMUNITY
Members of the Higher Education Practice Group are connected with the leaders of numerous colleges and universities through their service on Boards of Directors, Boards of Trustees and Alumni Clubs. Attorneys in the Higher Education group hold leadership positions with the following institutions and organizations affiliated with Higher Education:
- Vice Chairman, Board of Regents for the University System of Maryland
- Member, National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA)
- Vice Chair, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Board of Trustees
- Trustee, Arcadia University
- Trustee, DeSales University
- Trustee, Manor College
- Trustee, Stevenson University
- Trustee, Colgate University
- President, University of Delaware Philadelphia Area Alumni Club
- Director, University of Delaware Alumni Association Board of Directors
- Board member, Advisory Council to the J. Seward Johnson, Sr. Charitable Trusts
- Member, the New Jersey Planned Giving Council
- Former Member, Board of Visitors, University of Maryland School of Law
- Vice President, University of Pennsylvania's Alumni, Class of 1970
- Vice Chair, Maryland Higher Education Labor Relations Board
- Director, Board of Directors, University System of Maryland Foundation
- Member, Board of Visitors, University of Maryland School of Law
- Member, Schools Committee, Harvard Clubs of Philadelphia and Princeton
In addition, our attorneys have been on the faculty or adjunct professors for the following universities and law schools:
- University of Baltimore School of Law
- St. Joseph’s University
- Rutgers University School of Law
- Rutgers University Graduate School of Business
- Kean University Masters of Public Administration Program
- Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law
- St. John's University School of Law Masters Program in Bankruptcy
- University of Maryland School of Law
- University of Delaware
With attorneys hailing from diverse professional backgrounds and covering a broad spectrum of legal experience, Saul Ewing's Higher Education Practice Group is well-suited to assist clients with the wide-ranging issues unique – in scope and substance – to institutions of higher education.