Education is an evolving industry that requires institutions to achieve not only vocational excellence in academics, but also to master a complex ecosystem affected by a broad range of issues from human resources to construction, finance, and intellectual property protection and enforcement.
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Education is an evolving industry that requires institutions to achieve not only vocational excellence in academics, but also to master a complex ecosystem affected by a broad range of issues from human resources to construction, finance, and intellectual property protection and enforcement.
Perkins Coie’s distinguished multidisciplinary capabilities have established the firm as a trusted advisor for educational institutions at all levels, as well as related associations and organizations.
Institutions and organizations from across the education industry turn to us for guidance and counsel. They include:
- Higher Education
- Healthcare and Academic Medical Centers
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Educational Technology Companies
Our Educational Institutions & Services industry group’s practical experience handling issues, both exceptionally sensitive and routine, reflects the firm’s breadth and depth. Led by National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) members, PhDs, and former and current professors, we know from first-hand experience the issues facing today’s institutions of higher learning and those affiliated with them. We have represented clients in matters involving tax and compliance, technology transactions, bankruptcy, and labor and employment, including significant Title IX work.
Areas of Experience
Perkins Coie’s distinguished multidisciplinary capabilities have established the firm as a trusted advisor for educational institutions at all levels, as well as related associations and organizations.
Institutions and organizations from across the education industry turn to us for guidance and counsel. They include:
- Higher Education
- Healthcare and Academic Medical Centers
-
Educational Technology Companies
Our Educational Institutions & Services industry group’s practical experience handling issues, both exceptionally sensitive and routine, reflects the firm’s breadth and depth. Led by National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) members, PhDs, and former and current professors, we know from first-hand experience the issues facing today’s institutions of higher learning and those affiliated with them. We have represented clients in matters involving tax and compliance, technology transactions, bankruptcy, and labor and employment, including significant Title IX work.
Areas of Experience
Compliance, Investigations & Crisis Response
Our nationally recognized White Collar & Investigations attorneys have led, and helped institutions respond to, some of the nation’s most high-profile investigations on behalf of academic institutions and related organizations. These have included inquiries involving sexual and mental abuse, fraud and embezzlement, scientific research and plagiarism, intellectual property, administrative oversight, false and misleading advertising, on-campus medical and mental health treatment, storage of hazardous materials, and campus policing. The team also has worked with academic institutions to develop compliance programs tailored to minimize and prevent the risk of these issues arising.
Practice Spotlight
Perkins Coie has a national reputation for conducting independent investigations of sexual abuse grounded in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered methodology. This team has handled several of the nation’s most sensitive and high-profile university and college investigations in recent years, including those related to a former Ohio State University team physician accused of sexual abuse and the Aurora, Colorado “theater shooter” (and former University of Colorado graduate student) James Holmes.
Learn more about our White Collar & Investigations practice here.
Construction & Real Estate
A recognized leader in school construction and real estate law, our team assists clients in all stages of construction and development, from property acquisition through procurement, project management, and dispute resolution. Representing school districts, leading academic and research institutions, and other public and private property owners, we have created thousands of design, engineering, construction, and related agreements for tens of billions of dollars in school construction projects.
Practice Spotlight
Represent the University of Washington, in numerous ongoing construction and real estate matters for downtown Seattle’s “Metropolitan Tract,” comprising 1.9 million square feet of rentable office space and 600,000 square feet of rentable retail space. This is one of the many construction and real estate projects we have handled for the university.
Intellectual Property
Protection of intellectual property is of paramount importance to the academic community. World-class educational and research institutions retain Perkins Coie’s attorneys to protect their inventions and ideas. The firm’s patent team includes multiple attorneys holding advanced degrees in fields such as electrical engineering, computer science, and life sciences. Informed by their technical educations, they are particularly skilled in preparing and successfully prosecuting patent applications in anticipation of licensing opportunities and potential litigation. We manage patent portfolios for innovative technologies throughout their development stages in industries including computer science, electronics, semiconductors, telecommunications, life sciences, and biotechnology, medical devices, aerospace, and consumer products.
Practice Spotlight
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has engaged Perkins Coie on patent matters in technologies including biomedical, nanotechnology, communications, and electronics. These include UCSD’s electrochemical sensor technologies for skin-applied, minimally-invasive electrochemical biosensors. Perkins Coie also handles university inventions relating to microfluidic technologies for biomedical applications and patent work on nanomotors for potential drug delivery in bloodstreams and bionic eye implants.
Labor & Employment
Educational institutions face a vast array of social and compliance risks that have the potential to land them on the front pages of newspapers and into political crosshairs. Our Labor & Employment lawyers work closely with educational organizations to provide assertive, forward-thinking counsel to forecast, evaluate, and address these risks. We have the experience and depth to handle institutions’ needs, whether an establishment is facing highly sensitive accusations, policy challenges by insiders and outsiders, or general compliance questions arising out of regulations from the Department of Labor (DOL), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and state agencies.
Our team provides strategic counsel on every aspect of employment law, including equal employment opportunity, employee discipline and background investigations, the use of social media in the workplace, faculty selection and promotion issues, employment policies and handbooks, union activity, trade secret and noncompetition agreements, employee benefits and executive compensation, and immigration. When litigation cannot be avoided, we provide comprehensive representation in administrative proceedings, mediation and arbitration, trials, and appeals.
Our lawyers have led and helped institutions respond to some of the nation’s most high-profile investigations. These have included inquiries involving sexual abuse and harassment, discrimination, and hostile work environments.
Practice Spotlight
Perkins Coie was engaged to conduct an internal investigation for The Ohio State University related to alleged sexual misconduct engaged in by a former university employee. Perkins Coie also represented two large state universities in an Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) audit, resulting in zero-dollar settlements.
Litigation
Our litigation team is led by long-standing members of the NACUA, each with years of experience working with higher education clients. This experience spans issues including accreditation, government contracts and grants, employment and labor, and intellectual property. Our team addresses the myriad of issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, including class actions and insurance recovery matters. Athletics-related matters, including NCAA issues with athletes, copyright infringement matters, and litigation arising under state and federal disability laws, are also areas of particular emphasis. We vigorously represent our clients in litigation, but also regularly advise on statutory, regulatory, and contractual compliance to help them avoid litigation. We also assist clients in their responses to federal and state agency investigations.
Privacy & Data Security
From the data collection points students, staff, and administrators encounter on a daily basis and the complex business relationships with third-party vendors, to “smart campuses,” the internet of things, and remote learning, today’s interconnected higher education institutions must place an unprecedented emphasis on data privacy and information security. With a web of state and federal laws, including the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and supplemental laws enacted by at least 41 states, it is not surprising that the 2020 EDUCAUSE study identified privacy as the second most critical IT issue facing higher education. Our team of recognized industry leaders helps ensure that institutions appropriately safeguard their constituents' privacy rights and maintain accountability for protecting the various types of restricted data.
Public-Private Partnerships
Public-private partnerships enable public sector organizations to leverage private sector capital, expertise, and other resources to help achieve capital improvement and other goals. Our P3 and project finance attorneys have represented higher education institutions in all aspects of P3 transactions involving the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance, and management of student housing, dining, parking, academic, athletic, clinical, energy, and other facilities.
Practice Spotlight
Examples of our recent P3 engagements include representing a university in Oklahoma in developing student housing, parking, and retail facilities, a university in California in constructing an academic facility and clinic, a university in Alaska in building a student dining facility, and a university in California in developing a solar energy facility.
Learn more about our Public-Private Partnerships practice here.
