Celynda L. Brasher
Kate L. Nash
Lisa J. Berns
Margaret A. Hesse
Melanie Gurley Keeney
Michelle H. BasiThe following Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Mohan & Jackstadt attorneys were authors of the School Law 2016 Cumulative Supplement published by The Missouri Bar: Melanie Gurley Keeney, Michelle Hammond Basi, Lisa Berns, Celynda Brasher, Margaret Hesse, Shane Jones, Kameron Murphy and Katherine Nash.
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-present 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 2015, and she has been selected for inclusion in the Martindale-Hubbell ® 2012 Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers™. In 2014, Washington University School of Law presented Melanie with the International Women’s Day Award for Employment Law.
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.
Lisa J. Berns practices in the areas of real estate, lending and finance and corporate law. She has extensive experience representing public and private clients in a variety of transactional matters, including the purchase, sale and leasing of office, industrial, retail and school properties, and construction of commercial and school properties. She has represented borrowers and lenders in complex financing transactions secured by major St. Louis office and retail properties, as well as transactions involving asset-based and cash flow loans. Her practice also has involved the foreclosure of commercial and consumer properties and workout negotiations. She has represented multiple Fortune 500 clients in the management of their owned and leased properties on a nationwide basis.
Celynda L. Brasher is a founding shareholder of the firm. 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; school finance; civil rights; contracts; the Missouri Open Meetings Act; church/state issues; and an assortment of 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. Celynda is a frequent speaker and author on school law and private employment topics. She is a co-author of the Missouri Bar School Law CLE Deskbook, and has written a number of articles for legal, educational, and school nursing publications. Celynda is a former tenured teacher and a registered nurse. Celynda has a B.A. in History from Drury University. She also has a B.S. from Saint Louis University School of Nursing. Celynda earned her J.D., cum laude, Order of the Woolsack, from Saint Louis University School of Law. Celynda was also Managing Editor of the St. Louis University Law Journal.
Margaret A. 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, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Equal Pay Act. She has represented employers in labor matters before the United States Department of Labor/Wage and Hour Division, the Illinois Commission on Human Rights and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations board. Margaret has also represented employers in workers”™ compensation matters before the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and has handled numerous appeals before the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission and the Missouri Court of Appeals. Margaret also has practiced in the fields of medical malpractice and legal malpractice.
D. Shane Jones practices in the areas of labor & employment law, education law, and higher education in Missouri and Illinois. Shane routinely advises and represents employers in all aspects of employment labor law, including wage and hour matters, the design and review of employee handbooks, drafting and enforcing no compete agreements, and investigating, disciplining and terminating employees. He has also successfully defended employers against discrimination claims, First Amendment claims, Due Process claims, and other Labor and Employment actions in state and federal courts.
Kameron W. Murphy joined Tueth Keeney in June 2013 and is a member of the firm’s Education Law and Labor & Employment practice areas. Kameron previously practiced in commercial litigation for a well-respected mid-sized St. Louis firm and has extensive experiences in all phases of litigation in Illinois and Missouri state and federal courts. While in law school, Kameron was a student law clerk to then-Chief Justice Ronnie L. White of the Missouri Supreme Court. Prior to beginning his legal career, Kameron was a newspaper reporter covering public safety for the Burlington (Iowa) Hawk Eye and municipal government and education for the Kansas City Star.
Katherine L. 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 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.