Celynda L. Brasher
Kate L. Nash
Laura E. Hemmer
Margaret A. Hesse
Melanie Gurley Keeney
Michelle H. Basi“Close to 500 school superintendents, administrators and school board members from across the State of Missouri attended Tueth Keeney’s Annual School Law Seminars held in July, 2012. Tueth Keeney presents the seminars annually to clients and members of the education community on a broad range of legal topics that affect school districts. The Seminars were held over three days across the state in Blue Springs, MO, Lake of the Ozarks, MO, and St. Louis, MO, and are provided at no cost to clients and friends of the firm.
This year, firm attorneys Michelle Basi, Celynda Brasher, Amy Clendennen, Mike Curry, Laura Hemmer, Melanie Keeney, Kate Nash, and Pete Yelkovac presented on a variety of issues important to school districts, including identifying and accommodating students with disabilities, reductions in force, student discipline and exclusion, identifying and investigating sexual misconduct by school employees, working with difficult parents, and legal issues for school districts in an election year. Firm attorneys also spoke on a panel that addressed recent legal changes impacting school districts.
The Firm’s next School Law Seminars will be held in July of 2013 at Blue Springs, MO, Lake of the Ozarks, MO, and St. Louis, MO. Please contact Libby Graf at 314-880-3612 if you would like updates on the details as they become available.”
Michelle Hammond Basi practices in the areas of school law, special education, school litigation, and labor and employment law. Michelle represents school districts throughout Missouri with respect to employment and termination matters, special education, Section 504, student discipline and student rights, civil rights, and church/state issues. Michelle has successfully represented school districts in student and employment matters before various federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including the EEOC, Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and the Office for Civil Rights. She is also a regular speaker at statewide and regional school law conferences.
Celynda L. Brasher is a founding Shareholder of Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Mohan & Jackstadt, P.C. She practices in the areas of education, litigation and labor and employment law. Celynda represents numerous school districts throughout Missouri. She regularly advises boards of education and administrators on matters involving employee hiring, evaluation, remediation, and termination; student rights and discipline; special education; Section 504; school finance; civil rights; employment and business contracts; the Open Meetings Act; church/state issues; and other constitutional matters. Celynda also represents public, private, and non-profit employers in discrimination defense, collective bargaining, union organization, unemployment compensation, wage/hour compliance and terminations, as well as a variety of other employment law areas. Celynda has extensive litigation experience in federal and state courts and before federal and state administrative agencies.
Amy Leech Clendennen practices primarily in the areas of education, litigation, and labor and employment law. Amy has successfully represented school districts, colleges and universities, and private employers before State and Federal Courts and administrative agencies, including the Equal Opportunity Commission, Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
Michael J. Curry practices in the areas of school law, school litigation, and labor and employment law. Mike represents school districts throughout Missouri with respect to employment and termination matters, Section 504, student discipline and student rights, civil rights, church/state issues, and he represents Missouri school districts in student and employment matters before various courts and administrative agencies. Mike comes to the firm after serving as a law clerk for the Honorable Roy Richter, who sits on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Laura E. Hemmer practices primarily in the areas of education law and labor and employment. She represents public entities with respect to employment and termination matters, special education issues, student discipline and student rights, civil rights and church/state matters. She has also represented private and public employers through all stages of litigation and appeal in state and federal courts. During law school, Laura served as a legal intern with the United States Attorney’s Office and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.
Melanie Gurley Keeney, a founding Shareholder of Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Mohan & Jackstadt, P.C. , practices in the areas of Employment, Immigration, and Education law. Melanie represents institutions of higher education, corporations and individuals in immigration law matters, including obtaining nonimmigrant and immigrant visas and handling employer sanctions issues, I-9 compliance, E-Verify issues, consular processing and naturalization. She frequently speaks on immigration, labor and education issues. Her experience in education law includes representing numerous Missouri school districts and institutions of higher education regarding a wide range of personnel and student matters. Melanie also specializes in First Amendment issues, ranging from free speech to religion in the schools, and she regularly advises school districts on these issues. She is also a popular speaker on the local and national level. Melanie has extensive experience litigating both federal and state cases. Melanie is a past board member of the National School Board Association’s Council of School Attorneys and is past Chairman of the Missouri Council of School Attorneys.
Melanie has been listed in St. Louis Magazine’s “St. Louis Best Lawyers” and “The Best Lawyers in America,” from 1997-present, and in “Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers,” 2005-2012 editions as a top lawyer and one of the top 50 female lawyers in Missouri and Kansas and in Kansas City Magazine as one of the “Top Missouri Lawyers.” Best Lawyers has named Melanie Gurley Keeney as the “St. Louis Best Lawyers Immigration Law Lawyer of the Year” for 2012, and she has been selected for inclusion in the Martindale-Hubbell ® 2012 Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers™.
Kate Nash practices primarily in the areas of education, non-profit, litigation, labor and employment law. Kate has extensive experience representing and advising private and public employers in all areas of employment law. She has experience advising employers as to all matters of human resource policy issues, specifically ensuring that employers are in compliance with state and federal labor and employment laws. She practices primarily in Missouri and Illinois state and federal courts. She has also represented clients in matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Missouri Human Rights Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights. She also regularly represents schools districts, colleges, and universities in a general counsel capacity. Kate Nash currently serves as a Vice-Chair of the Missouri Bar Labor & Employment Law Committee.
Peter G. Yelkovac concentrates his practice on the representation of Missouri school districts of all sizes. Pete’s school law and school litigation practice extends to all corners of the State, and he presently serves as lead counsel for dozens of Missouri school districts. Over his career, Pete has successfully defended many school districts in federal and state lawsuits. He also regularly represents school districts in administrative proceedings and during investigations by federal and state agencies. Educational organizations and institutions regularly invite Pete to deliver speeches and presentations on a variety of school and employment law issues. Pete is also a prolific author on school law topics. Pete writes a regular column on school law for the MoASBO Journal. He served as editor and as a co-author of the First Edition of the Missouri Bar’s School Law Deskbook.
Missouri Education – The law firm of Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan & Jackstadt, P.C. (the “Firm”), has one of the largest and most successful education law groups in the country. The Firm regularly serves the legal counsel needs of approximately 150 school districts throughout Missouri. The Firm also has one of the largest school law practices in Central and Southern Illinois.