Celynda L. Brasher
Ian P. Cooper
Melanie Gurley KeeneyTueth Keeney is pleased to announce that three of its attorneys are 2013 Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers. Celynda Brasher, Ian Cooper, and Melanie Keeney have all been selected as 2013 Super Lawyers. Celynda, Ian, and Melanie are all founding shareholders of the firm. In addition, Amy Clendennen was selected for Missouri & Kansas Rising Stars 2013.
Only up to five percent of attorneys in a state are named Super Lawyers. Selecting the attorneys involves an in-depth, measurable process. Peer nominations by seasoned attorneys followed by detailed evaluations are matched against third-party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on a state-by-state basis annually.
No more than two-and-a-half percent of attorneys in a state are named Rising Stars. The lawyers who make this list must be under 40 years old or have less than 10 years of legal experience. They go through the same selection process as Super Lawyers, excluding the peer evaluations.
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.
Ian Cooper is a founding Shareholder of Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Mohan & Jackstadt, P.C. Ian practices in the areas of employment, higher education, commercial and tort litigation. Ian regularly serves as lead trial and appellate counsel in significant employment, tort and commercial cases, including class actions and other complex litigation in Missouri and Illinois.
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.