One of the firm’s largest practice areas, our School Law department is staffed by attorneys with extensive expertise in all aspects of school district representation and public sector law. Our relationships with our district clients are long-term, reflecting their sustained satisfaction with our services. The firm currently serves as counsel to more than 70 New Jersey school districts, ranging in size from less than 400 to more than 12,000 students, including:

• Pre-K-8
• Pre-K-12
• Regional
• Vocational
• Special Services

Our full range of legal services to our district clients, include:

Solicitor/General Counsel
We provide counsel and advice on all legal issues facing school boards. Timeliness in returning phone calls and availability to provide prompt service are essential components of our commitment. 

Negotiations
We represent school districts in negotiations with all types of school district based unions, including teachers, administrators, and support staff. Over the years, we have developed respectful professional relationships with many union leaders. These relationships are invaluable to creating smooth negotiations that result in a positive settlement for client districts.

Labor/Employment
Our School Law attorneys are involved in ongoing advice and consultation, negotiations, grievance handling, increment withholdings, arbitrations, and tenure charges. Our attorneys routinely handle a variety of cases on behalf of our school district clients, including petitions to determine the scope of negotiations, unfair practice charges, representation petitions, and clarification of unit petitions. We also routinely handle civil litigation, tenure charges, seniority issues, non-renewal issues, and discrimination charges.

Special Education
We recognize the enormous exposure and potential expense public school districts face with respect to special education litigation. Our School Law attorneys represent boards of education in all special education areas, assisting districts in the development of appropriate Individualized Education Programs (IEP), staff training and development, and, where necessary, mediation and due process hearings. We have amicable working relationships with numerous attorneys and advocates in the state who represent parents in these matters. Attorneys in this area offer regular in-service training to special education staff and administrators on handling special education matters.

Firm attorneys routinely make presentations before the New Jersey School Boards Association, and various other state organizations, on a wide variety of legal issues at the forefront of school law in New Jersey.

Additionally, Parker McCay stands in the forefront on public access issues, especially the spectrum of issues related to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, the common law right of access and the federal Freedom of Information Act.