Merry RhoadesTueth Keeney attorneys, Merry Rhoades and D. Shane Jones were featured presenters at the 11th Annual Southern Illinois University School Administrators’ Legal Roundtable. The Legal Roundtable took place on October 10, 2007 on the campus of Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. Merry and Shane spoke on the New Special Education Regulations: Class Size, Work Load and the Impact on School Management. They specifically discussed special education class size requirements and the collective bargaining implications of the new class size regulations.
Tueth Keeney is proud of its commitment to the advising and educating of school administrators on the complex and ever changing legal issues facing public schools.
Merry C. Rhoades focuses her practice on general counsel services with an emphasis on special education law and student-related issues, school district reorganization matters and tax and finance matters. Because of her more than 20 years experience in representing Illinois public school districts, she has key insights regarding the day-to-day operation of the school district. She has extensive experience in special education administrative hearings, civil rights litigation, state and federal court litigation at the trial and appellate levels, and state administrative hearings.
Merry is an active member of several school related organizations. She is a member of the Illinois Council of School Attorneys Executive Committee and currently serves as its 1st Vice Chairperson and she is a service member to the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA). She serves as an Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) PRESS advisory committee member. Merry has been asked to speak for such organizations as the Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education (IAASE), the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), the Illinois Principal’s Association (IPA) and the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) on numerous school related issues.
Shane Jones practices in the areas of labor & employment law, education law, and litigation in both Missouri and Illinois. He routinely advises and represents employers in wage and hour matters, the design and review of employee handbooks, and disciplining and terminating employees. Shane has successfully defended employers against discrimination claims, First Amendment claims, Due Process claims, and other Labor and Employment actions in state and federal courts.
Shane also practices in the area of collective bargaining and labor relations. He is experienced in crafting proposals and counter-proposals, and in effectively presenting the employer’s position at the bargaining table. He has directly negotiated or participated extensively behind the scenes in the negotiation of more than fifty collective bargaining agreements under the National Labor Relations Act, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, and in the “meet and confer” process under the Missouri Public Sector Labor Law.
Shane is a Vice-Chair of the Missouri Bar Labor & Employment Law Committee, an author of the “Prevailing Wage” chapter in the most recent Missouri Employee-Employer Law Desk Book, and a co-author of the “Employment Law” chapter in the most recent Missouri Bar School Law Desk Book as well as its most recent supplement. Shane has been a Tueth Keeney shareholder since January, 2003.
Tueth Keeney is proud to be one of the state’s largest Illinois education law practices. The firm has one of the most experienced groups of attorneys in Central and Southern Illinois dedicated to serving public schools. We regularly represent nearly 150 public school districts, including many districts in Central and Southern Illinois. Our Firm is also regularly appointed by insurers of educational institutions to represent districts in complex or difficult cases involving school or civil rights laws.