Overview
Across multiple practice areas, including Government Relations, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, Intellectual Property and Litigation, Calfee attorneys have significant experience helping education clients find solutions to their legal and business challenges.
Ohio is home to more than 2.2 million students in more than 4,000 K-12 schools and more than 100 public and private institutions of higher education. Schools and businesses that work with schools face a myriad of regulatory challenges at both the state and local levels. Calfee attorneys have experience representing schools and businesses, at both the primary and higher education levels, on a wide variety of issues.
From legislative and executive agency lobbying to construction, public finance, labor and employment and the protection of intellectual property, Calfee attorneys can help clients successfully navigate Ohio’s education sector.
Professionals
Professionals
Experience
Experience
Calfee supports our primary and higher education clients by providing comprehensive legal services across a variety of matters. Our attorneys can assist with bond issuances and other financings, real estate and construction projects, patent prosecution, and energy initiatives. Below are representative examples of our work in this space.
Construction and Real Estate
- Representing a large Midwestern university in relation to the client's expansion of its medical center and campus. The University began the construction of a new energy plant, which will generate cooling and heating for several new buildings, including a new cutting-edge medical center.
- Handled the negotiation of a development agreement for the development of a mixed-use project located adjacent to the campus of our university client. Our department had previously assisted the client with the acquisition of the development site in 2023. The site is being developed for a project containing more than 160,000 square feet, which will include nearly 30,000 square feet of retail and medical office space, and a building containing student housing units of various sizes.
- Serving as lead counsel to a private university in connection with its transformational gateway development project. The university's mixed-use, multi-stage development includes student residences, offices, and retail uses.
Corporate and Finance / Public Finance
- Served as university counsel in a public-private partnership for a long-term lease and monetization of the university's housing assets in a matter that involved the upfront payment for a long-term lease financed with the proceeds of tax-exempt bonds.
- Served as trustee counsel in a matter involving taxable and tax-exempt bonds issued by a port authority for the benefit of a university as part of a public-private partnership to finance energy efficiency improvements throughout the university campus.
- Served as underwriter's counsel in the sale of refunding bonds for the benefit of an Ohio college, including the refinancing of a line of credit provided to the college to finance capital improvements to the campus with the proceeds of tax-exempt debt, thereby saving the college money due to the tax-exempt nature of the refunding debt.
- Served as bond counsel to a nationally recognized private K-12 school in the issuance of refunding bonds.
Energy and Utilities
- Represent one of the largest universities in the region before the Ohio Power Siting Board (PSB) to obtain approval for a combined heat and power generating facility on the campus to provide electric power, steam, and chilled water to campus buildings. Since the approval by the PSB in 2020, Calfee has continued to work with PSB Staff on construction progress and satisfaction of PSB conditions.
- Serve as lead Ohio regulatory counsel for a large public university in a proceeding initiated by a leading energy company for approval of a gas pipeline extension in an Ohio Power Siting Board (PSB) case.
Government Relations and Legislation
- Provided ongoing government relations services to an Ohio university for more than 20 years and currently serving as the client’s representative in the state in all government-related matters. Calfee helped the client maintain several million dollars in direct state funding for the client’s medical school during state budget negotiations.
Insurance Coverage / Insurance Defense
- Successfully represented a university client in securing full coverage for defense costs incurred in lawsuit brought by former college football player alleging long-term injuries from his playing career.
Intellectual Property
- Assisted a top U.S. research university with drafting and filing patent applications related to various technologies, including lithium-ion battery technology and lithium extraction.