Merry RhoadesMinimizing legal risks to its clients is an important focus of Tueth Keeney. To minimize a client’s legal risks, Tueth Keeney attorneys often present in-services for its clients. 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. On October 26, 2006, firm shareholders Merry Rhoades and D. Shane Jones, presented a legal in-service to the administrators of the Massac County School District.
The in-service was titled, Limiting Legal Liability: What Every Administrator Should Know. Merry and Shane covered such topics as: FERPA/ISSRA and Other Confidentiality Issues, The New & Improved Special Education Regulations, Administrative Responsibilities & Instructional Leadership, Maintaining a Safe Environment, Consistent Interpretation and Application of Work Rules, Student Handbook Dos and Don’ts, and Dealing with Employee Absenteeism and Medical Issues Under the School Code, the ADA and the FMLA.
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 and employment law, education law, and litigation in both Missouri and Illinois. He routinely advises and represents employers in wage and hour matters, in the design and review of employee handbooks, and disciplining and terminating employees. Shane has also successfully defended employers against discrimination claims, First Amendment claims, Due Process claims, and other constitutional issues, in both 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 collective bargaining table. He has directly negotiated, or participated significantly 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.