Public Sector + Municipal Law

Buckley King’s practical guidance in public-sector law is deeply rooted in attorneys who have served in public-sector positions.

Overview

Buckley King offers an unparalleled team of attorneys with sophisticated and comprehensive experience working with public-sector entities, including governmental agencies, municipalities, and educational institutions. Our effectiveness in public-sector matters is the result of having attorneys with experience and backgrounds serving in state government and legislature, as city mayors, law directors and judges, and as legal counsel for governmental entities as well as national and state election campaigns. We represent states Attorneys General, counties, municipalities, villages, townships and their officers, agencies and commissions in matters involving:

Eminent Domain
Employment and Labor
Compliance
Cooperative Agreements
Joint Development Agreements for Infrastructure Improvements
Legislation Preparation
Litigation (including before Administrative Bodies)
Municipal Finance
Planning and Zoning
Purchasing and Contracting (including bid and construction contracts)
Transportation and Infrastructure

Economic Development

Project financing can be structures in many forms. We have experience working with an array of sophisticated real estate and financial transactions, and provide legal counsel and services to governmental agencies as well as other federal, state and local public and quasi-public entities. Having deep insight in development and financing, Buckley King negotiates first-impression projects in which public and private entities participate, including in the development of multi-use projects in low-income communities of Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland, the City of Chicago, and the City of Milwaukee. We have served as counsel for lenders and borrowers in multi-faceted financial transactions involving public financing, tax credits, mezzanine debt and tax-increment financing. We have extensive experience representing lenders, municipalities, housing authorities, and developers in connection with the development of financing of multiple low-income tax credits, NSP financing, and CDBG programs.

Financing Alternatives in Economic Development

Community Development Block Grants
Federal Stimulus Funding Programs
Historic Preservation Tax Credits
HUD Financing
Low Income Housing Tax Credits
New Markets Tax Credits
NSP I, II, and III Financing
Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

We also provide public finance legal services to governmental agencies, other public and quasi-public entities at the federal, state and local levels. Our role in multi-million dollar bond transactions includes serving as:

Co-Bond Counsel
Disclosure Counsel
Investor’s Counsel
Issuer’s Counsel
Trustee’s Counsel
Underwriter’s Counsel

Members of our team have served as in-house counsel in financial institutions and as law directors of municipalities, and draft ordinances, state and national legislation

Education

Buckley King provides counsel to both public and private educational entities, including higher education institutions, traditional and community schools, and public school districts. Our attorneys are accustomed to reviewing, using and working within the parameters of the state and federal structures and the multiple agreements and relationships by and among the academia, the community and all entities doing business with an institution.

Buckley King has represented the interests of public and private schools, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, school districts, charter schools, school boards, faculty, employees, provosts, trustees, management companies and sponsors, providing advice and solutions in conventional to complex matters, including:

Attendance, Custody and Tuition
Acquisitions and Dispositions
Co-curricular and Extracurricular Activities
Collective Bargaining
Compliance Standards
Contracts
Environmental Issues
Employee Benefits
Employment and Labor Relations
FERPA
Land Use and Zoning
Litigation, Mediation, Arbitration
Public Finance
Public Records/Open Meeting Act
Real Estate
Reorganization and Bankruptcy
School Board Organization and Operations
Special Education
Student Discipline
Transportation

Dispute Resolution

The Firm also represents institutions in dispute resolution from First Amendment cases involving student newspapers to faculty discipline and discrimination, and from sexual assaults to wrongful death actions. Our litigation team provides practical and clear guidance in dispute resolution and is cognizant of the need to preserve and manage institutional reputation and relationships, and protects the institution’s position in that regard.

Non-Profit Organizations

With the increase in regulatory compliance and economic challenges facing most non-profits, Buckley King’s interdisciplinary approach to representation allows organizations more time to focus on achieving their goals and promoting their missions.

Comprised of attorneys skilled in corporate, real estate, development, and labor and employment law to finance, governance, and public and private funding, Buckley King works with non-profit organizations to ensure that all aspects of their organizational operations and missions allow for maximum effectiveness and efficient services to their constituent communities.

Our attorneys regularly guide and assist non-profit organizations with: