McLane Middleton

Cybersecurity Threats and Preparedness for Independent Schools
2021-12-08 12:00 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | NH
McLane Middleton’s Information Privacy and Security Group is delivering a hands-on virtual workshop addressing cybersecurity threats and preparedness for independent schools on December 8, 2021 from 12:00-2:30 p.m. ET.
The workshop will be co-led by Cam Shilling, Chair of McLane Middleton’s Information Privacy and Security Group, and Paige Yeater, Director of Information Security Program Management at Mainstay Technologies.
McLane Middleton and Mainstay have worked with numerous schools throughout New England and around the country to increase their cybersecurity preparedness and avoid expensive and reputation-damaging breaches.
The workshop will be for heads of school, CFOs, business officers, and IT directors, in order to help schools understand the risk assessment process, start preparing your school for it, and even begin to assess your school’s preparedness to withstand some of the most prevalent cybersecurity dangers.
Program
Webinar – 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET
Cost
This event is being offered as a free education session.
Location
Webinar

Presenters

Cameron G. Shilling
Director, McLane Middleton
Chair of the firm’s Information Privacy and Security Group
Combining his business, technology and employment interests, Cameron has developed a depth and breadth of experience in privacy and data security. His résumé includes managing numerous data security audits, preparing and implementing written security policies, training executives, managers, and employees in data security, auditing, preparing and implementing data security agreements with vendors and business associates, addressing a wide variety of day-to-day security issues, and investigating and remediating many security breaches.
Cameron has dealt with these issues under a range of state and federal laws, including the Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act (GLB), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), the Massachusetts and California data security regulations, and a number of other state data security and breach notification laws.

Paige Yeater
Director of Information Security Program Management, Mainstay Technologies
Paige is the Director of Information Security Program Management at Mainstay Technologies. In this role, she works with clients across many industries, of many sizes, supporting their Information Security Programs.
With 20 years of experience in training, client operations and program management, she works to align business operations with Security and Compliance requirements. Most of her time is spent building programs to help support clients in their security journey. She and her team spend most of their time working with clients to educate them on their security risk and compliance requirements, and to align their business processes with a strong security posture.
Paige leverages her time in the training field to work with clients on their training and awareness programs, to ensure that their staff is well educated, aware and alert, and can help protect the organization from Security threats.
In addition to her work at Mainstay, Paige and her husband are raising two great kids who know the value of a long and complex password and she enjoys spending time outdoors, with family, and exploring New Hampshire!

Enrollment Contracts in a Post-COVID World
2021-11-18 15:00 - 16:00
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has shown a spotlight on independent schools’ enrollment contracts, these agreements have long been the legal underpinning of a clear, transparent, and healthy relationship between schools and their families.

Enrollment contacts can, of course, reinforce financial guidelines and obligations, but can also support schools with the many complex and challenging issues that crop up throughout a school year.

From effectively handling hostile parents, to navigating difficult divorce matters, to better understanding the needs of students with disabilities, well-crafted and robust enrollment contracts can be an invaluable resource for independent schools.

In this interactive session, experienced education counsel, Susan E. Schorr and Brian B. Garrett, will guide independent school leaders on the most recent trends in updating your enrollment contract for the next academic year.

Topics will include the following:

The fallout from COVID-19 in incorporating provisions relating to educational outcomes, vaccinations, e-learning, and forced school closings;
The nuts and bolts of appropriately implementing electronic agreements and signatures; and
The legal and practical considerations involved in converting to a perpetual enrollment contract.

Program
Webinar – 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET
Cost
This event is being offered as a free education session.
Location
Webinar

Presenters

Susan E. Schorr
Of Counsel, McLane Middleton
Vice Chair of the firm’s Education Law Group
Susan focuses her practice on education and employment, helping clients with general risk management, real-time problem solving, and crisis management. Grounded in thorough legal analysis, she offers practical advice and responsiveness. With a background as a social worker, public administrator, and a trustee of non-profit organizations herself, Susan approaches client challenges with an ability to integrate a variety of problem-solving frameworks, helping clients to arrive at practical solutions.

Brian B. Garrett
Of Counsel, McLane Middleton
Brian has extensive experience in a broad range of education, employment, and complex commercial litigation matters throughout the country, including in state and federal courts, in alternative resolution processes, and before various administrative agencies. Brian focuses his practice on understanding and serving the needs of independent day and boarding schools, colleges and universities, and early child care programs. Brian partners with many of the country’s leading independent schools to provide comprehensive advice on all aspects of school operations, including establishing new schools, student and parent issues, employment matters, school governance and leadership, and general risk management. He works closely with board chairs, heads of schools, financial officers, and other senior leadership members in tackling complex matters affecting school communities.

OSHA's Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID Vaccinations
2021-11-10 10:00 - 11:30
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard imposing significant new requirements on employers with 100 or more employees regarding COVID-19 vaccination, testing, face coverings, notification, and recordkeeping. OSHA and the Biden Administration have said that this ETS is necessary to protect unvaccinated workers from the risk of contracting COVID-19 at work.
The agency estimates that the ETS will result in approximately 23 million additional workers getting vaccinated, and that it will prevent thousands of deaths and hospitalizations.
On November 10, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. ET, McLane Middleton’s Employment Law Practice Group will discuss the ETS and respond to common questions employers are asking about the new regulation.

Program
Webinar – 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET
Cost
This event is being offered as a free education session.
Location
Webinar

Presenters

Adam M. Hamel
Director, McLane Middleton
Chair of the firm’s Employment Law Practice Group
Adam is chair of McLane Middleton’s Employment Law Practice Group. He regularly assists employers with a variety of litigated and non-litigated employment law issues including charges of discrimination, wrongful termination, violation of restrictive covenants, wage and hour issues, among others.

Peg O’Brien
Director, McLane Middleton
Peg assists employers with legal compliance and risk management in all phases of the employment relationship, as well as defense of employers in matters pending before government agencies and courts. On a regular basis, Peg assists company executives, human resources professionals and supervisors with routine employment law concerns.

Jennifer L. Parent
Director, McLane Middleton
Jennifer is a director and chair of the firm’s Litigation Department. She has over 25 years of experience litigating and resolving disputes for companies and business owners in a wide range of complex commercial cases and employment matters. She has represented employers in the areas of employment discrimination, executive termination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, contract, defamation, wages, trade secret, non-competition, and non-solicitation disputes.

Charla Bizios Stevens
Director, McLane Middleton
Charla has extensive background addressing litigated and non-litigated employment issues such as discrimination, harassment, employee classification and wage and hour claims. She assists employers in responding to labor audits, preparing personnel policies and minimizing risk in the hiring, discipline and termination of employees. She conducts management and anti-harassment training and works with employers to maintain legal compliance in a cost-efficient and effective way.

Laura McKelligott Kahl
Associate, McLane Middleton
Laura counsels employers on managing and minimizing risk in employee matters such as hiring, discipline and termination of employees, wage and hour issues, classification of employees and independent contractors, claims of discrimination and harassment, and restrictive covenants. She works with employers to maintain compliance with state and federal employment laws, and assists employers with workplace policies and procedures.

Independent School Legal Update
2021-10-28 08:30 - 12:30
On October 28, 2021, McLane Middleton’s Education Law Group will provide a free, virtual legal update for independent schools. As part of the half day session, attendees will receive practical strategies for managing risk from experienced practitioners who advise numerous independent schools on a daily basis.
This program is recommended for Heads of School, Senior Leadership, Business Officers, Deans of Students, and Deans of Faculty.
Program
Webinar – 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET
Cost
This event is being offered as a free education session.
Location
Webinar

Session Descriptions
Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policies Before and After Title IX
Independent schools used to think that Title IX (the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination) did not apply to them…The pandemic and the PPP loans changed all of that. But with those loans now largely forgiven, what practices covering sexual harassment and misconduct from a brief period of Title IX compliance should remain in place? In this session, we will examine the various ways in which schools are addressing student and employee sexual misconduct then and now, including notice of complaints, investigations, and managing discipline.
Effective Approaches for Dealing with Hostile Parents
Dealing with hostile parents is nothing new for independent schools. And yet, such occurrences have become increasingly common in recent times, particularly as schools face new frontiers of the culture wars, including DEI, gender issues, and COVID-19 safety protocols. In this session, we will examine various approaches and strategies for dealing with difficult parents, including, but not limited to, what language to incorporate in foundational documents, how to establish and enforce ongoing expectations, and how to effectively transition out hostile families.
Crossing the Line: What Is Your School’s Philosophy Regarding Oversight of Off-Campus Conduct?
Does your school discipline students for conduct off-campus? Or on the weekends? Or over the summer? Should it? The recent Supreme Court of the United States decision in Mahanoy Area School District—though technically applicable only to public schools—has sparked debate within the independent school community regarding whether schools should be policing students’ off-campus activity. In this session, we will analyze the various approaches schools can take in confronting and handling student conduct beyond the bounds of a school’s campus, including whether such jurisdiction should be mandatory or discretionary.
Reporting Student Discipline: Evolving Expectations and How to Manage the Process
The reporting of serious student discipline to colleges and next schools can be a fraught situation for students, families, and independent schools. And now, increasingly, families are lawyering up to challenge any mention of discipline during an application process. Combined with the Common App’s decision to remove questions about discipline, how should independent schools tactfully handle communications about a student’s record of misconduct? In this session, we will review case studies and offer practical (and legal) advice for how to manage the application and discipline reporting process.
COVID-19 Update: How to Manage Vaccinations for the Winter
Despite being over eighteen months into the pandemic, many schools are still grappling with their role in managing student and employee safety, particularly with respect to the COVID-19 vaccine. This issue will continue to evolve as the vaccine becomes increasingly available for school-age children and as local and federal governments enact new legislation and guidance. In this session, we will cover the latest developments as well as practical steps for how schools can comply with student and employee vaccination requirements and guidance. We will also discuss requests for exemption or accommodation; updates to policies and health forms, and student, parent, and employee vaccine hesitancy.
Cybersecurity Threats and Preparedness
Cam Shilling will discuss the upcoming hands-on workshop that McLane Middleton’s Information Privacy and Security Group is providing for independent schools in November 2021 (date/time TBD). Cam and our group have worked with numerous schools throughout New England and around the country to increase their cybersecurity preparedness and avoid expensive and reputation-damaging breaches. The workshop will be for heads of school, CFOs, business officers, and IT directors, in order to help schools understand the risk assessment process, start preparing your school for it, and even begin to assess your school’s preparedness to withstand some of this most prevalent cybersecurity dangers.
Presenters

Linda S. Johnson
Director, McLane Middleton
Co-Chair of the firm’s Employment Law Group
Linda focuses her practice on understanding and serving the needs of K-12 independent schools. She serves as outside legal counsel and a consultant to many of the country’s top independent day and boarding schools. She advises her clients on all aspects of school operations including employment law, student discipline, contracts, fiduciary and tort law, leadership development, investigations, compliance audits, risk management, crisis response, and student safety. Linda consults with schools on both prevention and response to all types of educator misconduct and student on student sexual assaults.

David Wolowitz
Director, McLane Middleton
Co-Chair of the firm’s Employment Law Group
David advises independent schools nationwide and internationally on all aspects of risk prevention and crisis response, with a focus on promoting healthy relationships through the management and oversight of a healthy school culture. He is a pioneer in applying behavioral risk management concepts, including training on healthy teacher – student boundaries and the establishment of standards of conduct, to promote safe school cultures. He believes that risk management practices should reinforce, not interfere with, good teaching and an environment conducive to learning.

Susan E. Schorr
Of Counsel, McLane Middleton
Vice Chair of the firm’s Employment Law Group
Susan focuses her practice on education and employment, helping clients with general risk management, real-time problem solving, and crisis management. Grounded in thorough legal analysis, she offers practical advice and responsiveness. With a background as a social worker, public administrator, and a trustee of non-profit organizations herself, Susan approaches client challenges with an ability to integrate a variety of problem-solving frameworks, helping clients to arrive at practical solutions.

Brian B. Garrett
Of Counsel, McLane Middleton
Brian has extensive experience in a broad range of education, employment, and complex commercial litigation matters throughout the country, including in state and federal courts, in alternative resolution processes, and before various administrative agencies. Brian focuses his practice on understanding and serving the needs of independent day and boarding schools, colleges and universities, and early child care programs. Brian partners with many of the country’s leading independent schools to provide comprehensive advice on all aspects of school operations, including establishing new schools, student and parent issues, employment matters, school governance and leadership, and general risk management. He works closely with board chairs, heads of schools, financial officers, and other senior leadership members in tackling complex matters affecting school communities.

Cameron G. Shilling
Director, McLane Middleton
Combining his business, technology and employment interests, Cameron has developed a depth and breadth of experience in privacy and data security. His résumé includes managing numerous data security audits, preparing and implementing written security policies, training executives, managers, and employees in data security, auditing, preparing and implementing data security agreements with vendors and business associates, addressing a wide variety of day-to-day security issues, and investigating and remediating many security breaches. Cameron has dealt with these issues under a range of state and federal laws, including the Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act (GLB), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), the Massachusetts and California data security regulations, and a number of other state data security and breach notification laws.
