Education

Sutin, Thayer & Browne is thoroughly familiar with the legal needs of all levels of educational institutions, in which public clients must manage risk to the institution at all times and private clients must strive to be innovative and fast-moving in increasingly changing markets. Our education attorneys provide comprehensive general counsel representation to public, private and charter primary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities. We regularly advise clients on matters of tort liability, employee evaluation, discipline and termination, intellectual property, technology transfer, the New Mexico Procurement Code, FERPA, the Open Meetings Act, the Inspection of Public Records Act, student rights and discipline, First Amendment issues, discrimination law and board governance. We have established corporations under the University Research Park and Economic Development Act and worked with universities on technology transfer and commercialization. We counsel public school clients on the School Personnel Act and election law.  Over decades we have variously served the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, Eastern New Mexico University, Western New Mexico University, New Mexico Highlands University, Northern New Mexico College, Santa Fe Community College, the Pueblo of Laguna Department of Education, the New Mexico Public Education Department, the New Mexico Educational Assistance Foundation and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board.

  • In our work for municipalities and universities, we advise in the areas of governmental procurement and bidding and with regard to intergovernmental relationships.
  • We routinely provide governing boards of educational institutions with regard to their rights and responsibilities under the Open Meetings Act and Inspection of Public Records Act.
  • We regularly represent colleges and universities before the Office of Civil Rights and the New Mexico Human Rights Commission.
  • We successfully defended a public school district against the termination of its Head Start program.
  • We successfully defended a state university in a bid protest filed by an electrical contractor in a public-works project, an action that was resolved by the Supreme Court.
  • We represented a state university with the development and construction of two residential housing complexes and another in purchasing real property for campus expansion.
  • We draft educational institutions’ policies and regulations.
  • We represent colleges and universities in the issuance of general obligation bonds and system revenue bonds as issuer’s counsel and as bond counsel.
  • We represent a university in its technology commercialization efforts, including the formation of University Research Park corporations and the development of licensing agreements.
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