Celynda L. Brasher
Kate L. Nash
Laura E. Hemmer
Melanie Gurley Keeney
Michelle H. BasiIn the spirit of Tueth Keeney’s continuing commitment to advising and educating school administrators on the complex and ever-changing legal issues facing public schools, the firm hosted three school law seminars free of charge to clients and friends of the firm. More than 500 Missouri public school administrators attended the three seminars which took place on July 23, 2009 in Blue Springs, Missouri, July 24, 2009 at the Tan-Tar-A Resort in Lake Ozark, Missouri, and July 28, 2009 at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, Missouri.
Tueth Keeney shareholders Tom Tueth, Melanie Gurley Keeney, Celynda Brasher, Pete Yelkovac, and Margaret Hesse participated as presenters at the seminars, along with associates Kate Nash, Michelle Basi and Laura Hemmer. The attorneys covered relevant topics such as student residency and homelessness, teacher non-renewal and termination, the new amendments to the ADA, constitutional and discrimination issues, cyberbulling, Title IX, and updates on the IDEA. The firm received very positive feedback from the hundreds of participants that attended the seminars, praising the materials presented, the choices of topics, and the presenters themselves.
Thomas E. Tueth practices in the areas of education, higher education, labor and employment and civil litigation law. Tom’s experience includes representation of public school districts, colleges and universities, private schools and not-for-profit organizations throughout Missouri. He counsels and speaks to school officials on a wide variety of topics including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, contracts and tenure, rights of students, negligence and general liability, church and state, school finance and employee organizational matters. Tom provides ongoing advice to dozens of public school districts, private schools and institutions of higher education.
Melanie Keeney 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. Melanie has been listed in St. Louis Magazine’s “St. Louis Best Lawyers” and “The Best Lawyers in America,” from 1997-2008, and in “Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers,” 2005-2008 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.”
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.
Pete Yelkovac practices in the areas of education and employment law. Pete regularly counsels public school districts in all facets of education and employment law. Pete also regularly advises private employers on employment and labor issues. Pete has successfully defended numerous federal and state lawsuits on behalf of public school districts, universities and private employers. He has extensive experience litigating employment discrimination lawsuits and Section 1983 claims involving a variety of constitutional issues.
Margaret Hesse primarily practices in the areas of education law, employment law and litigation. She has represented school districts in employment matters, including Title VII, the Safe Schools Act, Title IX, and the Equal Pay Act. She has represented employers in labor matters before the United States Department of Labor/Wage and Hour Division and the Illinois Commission of Human Rights.
Kate Nash practices primarily in the areas of education, litigation, labor and employment law. Kate has extensive experience representing 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.
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.
Laura E. Hemmer practices primarily in the areas of education law. She represents public entities with respect to employment and termination matters, special education issues, student discipline and student rights, civil rights and church/state issues. During law school, Laura served as a legal intern with the United States Attorney’s Office and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.
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.