Educational institutions have evolved into intricate business enterprises, and each has a myriad of commercial dealings. The legal issues facing educators and students are diverse and vary in complexity.
Today, educational institutions and those doing business with them face a variety of legal challenges exclusive to academia. Accreditation, procurement, inventions — each of these areas has unique situations within the academic system.
With their depth of knowledge and experience in education law and policy, the attorneys at LeClairRyan are positioned to handle the scope of legal issues facing today's colleges and universities. Our firm's attorneys have worked extensively with leading public and private facilities across the nation.
Our distinctive strengths include:
- Patent prosecution and issuance
- Immigration
- Contractual issues
- Employment law
- Tenure issues
- Construction disputes
- Accreditation
- University procurement
- Higher education governance
- The commercialization of academic inventions
- Academic freedom and First Amendment rights
- Student rights and discrimination policies
- Ethics restrictions on faculty use of university resources
Our attorneys possess a depth of experience related to academic institutions within their particular area of practice, working collaboratively to protect your organization's best interests.
We are well-versed in the magnitude of issues facing academic institutions, delivering business solutions—not just legal strategies—for our clients.
Representative matters:
Academic Inventions and Intellectual Property
- Represent university technology transfer clients in their intellectual property matters, including the procurement of U.S. and foreign patents, licensing of university-owned technology, reexamination and reissue of patents, and patent litigation. Patent work encompasses a variety of different technology areas, including computer software and hardware, internet and electronic commerce, business methods, communications, semiconductor technologies, electrical, electromechanical, optical, medical related technologies, clean energy technologies, microfluidics, MEMS, and other mechanical disciplines
- Represent university clients in post issuance practice matters, such as oppositions, reexaminations, reissues and interferences involving their patent applications
- Negotiate licensing agreements and defend university intellectual property matters
- Represented consortium of major research universities in biotechnology transfer licensing dispute
- Successful patent infringement defense of university clients to infringement claims made by a non-practicing entity related to distance learning applications
- Advised state university faculty members on academic inventions, including disclosure obligations, ownership and sponsored research
- Negotiated agreements for the out-licensing of university-developed patents and know-how and advised clients regarding the scope of license rights
- Advised university patent offices in connection with audits of royalty payments due to a public university
Employment, Tenure and Academic Freedom
- Defended private colleges and universities in wrongful discharge, denial of tenure and discrimination suits
- Ongoing general representation as outside counsel on employment and labor matters including audits of personnel policies and practices, FMLA, disability accommodation, affirmative action plans, EEO and FLSA compliance audits for a number of colleges and universities
- Defended university deans and faculty sued by a former instructor for the alleged violation of the instructor's First Amendment right of academic freedom and defamation in a grievance proceeding
- Defended university dean and faculty sued by a former instructor for discrimination and retaliation due to his personal and professional associations and the content of his academic research
- Provide in-house training for public and private colleges and universities on exempt/non-exempt classification of employees, discrimination and harassment in the workplace, FMLA compliance and other employment-related issues
- Summary judgment awarded where former employee alleged three separate counts of wrongful termination
- Removal of trustees and assignment of bequest to university involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty by trustees of an estate in which the university was a charitable beneficiary
- Successful defense of ERISA (and related state law) claims brought by doctor against faculty practice plan and university retirement plan
- Represented college board of trustees in internal ethics investigation
- Represented college board of trustees in termination of president's contract and subsequent litigation
- Regularly advise human resource administrations on full spectrum of employment law issues
- Negotiated and prepared employment contracts for college presidents and other senior officers
Immigration
- Counsel colleges and universities on employer immigration compliance matters such as policy development, in-house training programs, I-9 compliance and audits, E-Verify and federal investigations
- Counsel colleges and universities on F and J programs, including SEVIS compliance
- Represent colleges and universities in securing nonimmigrant (temporary) visas, including H-1B, O, TN, and immigrant (permanent) visas for the benefit of their international faculty, researchers and highly skilled classified employees
Civil Rights
- On behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, negotiated an historic and unprecedented civil rights accord with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. The accord recognized that the Commonwealth had eliminated vestiges of historical discrimination throughout its system of higher education and committed additional resources to the Commonwealth's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Jury verdict in favor of university on former student's disability discrimination claims under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (federal) and several state law claims
- Jury verdict upholding medical student dismissal in face of claims of disability discrimination
- Jury verdict in favor of university on Ph.D. candidate's claims of disability discrimination under the American's with Disabilities Act and related state law claims
- Jury verdict upholding medical student dismissal in face of claims of disability discrimination
- Obtained Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of civil rights claims brought by student
- Ruling in favor of university following intensive investigation of student's claim of civil rights violations based on gender discrimination under Title IX
- Summary judgment on First Amendment grounds in favor of professor who commented to reporter on plaintiff's extensive criminal history
- Successfully defended numerous employment discrimination claims at the agency level including public hearings and findings of lack of probable cause to proceed against a university
- Summary judgment in favor of university on former employee's claims of retaliation for having complained of race and sex discrimination
- Jury verdict involving claims of gender discrimination in employment under state and federal law
Liability
- Defended university in product liability and medical malpractice action arising from investigational study involving Human Growth Hormone in the 1970s and 1980s, and latent Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease, which emerged in the 1990s
- Defended college in personal injury/products liability lawsuit concerning injuries sustained by minor when professional size soccer goal located on college's campus fell onto her
- Defended university in premises liability lawsuit concerning property damage and mold
- Successful defense of college in OSHA proceedings arising out of death of construction worker
- Successful defense of claims against university by student dismissed for sexual assault challenging university's internal judicial affairs proceedings
- Regularly advise college risk managers and public safety officers
Transactions and Policies
- Represented college in transaction for new student loan program
- Represented college consortium in creation of cooperative health insurance program
- Developed ethics, conflict of interest and whistleblower policies for several colleges
Student Rights/Affairs
- Represent a national fraternity on corporate matters and student rights issues
- Summary judgment in student academic dismissal case
- Regularly advise deans of students on disciplinary and judicial board proceedings
Accreditation
- Represented a for-profit university in a legal challenge to accreditation denial and obtained preliminary injunction in federal court against loss of accreditation
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