Williams Law & Mediation Group

Government and Municipality

 

Cities and counties don't run themselves. Communities and community leaders work hard to produce good jobs, strong schools, safe neighborhoods, and growth in recreation, restaurant and retail businesses and opportunities. Our cities and counties need leaders, and those leaders need guidance and direction from experienced professionals who understand employment and labor law, who are familiar with open meeting laws and press issues, who can navigate real estate and contracts law, and who are comfortable with zoning, policy and ordinance issues. To be sure, serving governmental entities requires broad experience and knowledge in a number of areas, including municipal governance, planning, zoning, land use, taxation and delinquency actions, litigation, contract preparation and review, ordinance drafting, and eminent domain law.

 

We have represented numerous cities and towns across Southern Middle Tennessee on general and complex municipal issues. When local cities and counties have been faced with unique and unusual problems such as the contests of local elections, the county’s acquisition of private property for public development and projects, and challenges to the voter registrations and qualifications of local citizens, we have stepped in to give value-added service at cost-effective rates. Our office is uniquely situated to understand the problems facing our local cities and towns, and to meet those challenges head on. 

 

Education and School Law

 

Our education clients view commitment to education as much more than a business, and so do we. Education law can cover a wide variety of matters for local schools, boards of education, and colleges. Most educational issues require expertise in many different legal practice areas. Often times education lawyers must use their knowledge in areas such as special education law, constitutional law, business law, and employment law to help school law clients.

 

Over the years, we have assisted parents, teachers, school system employees, and school systems in navigating the many diverse issues that arise in the education of our children, including: 

 

   - Employment relations and worker rights

 

   - Contract development and negotiation

 

   - Counseling school boards and school directors on policy and procedure 

 

   - Policy and personnel development

 

   - Training and educational programs for school administrators and teachers

 

   - Governance matters

 

   - Student attendance and discipline

 

   - Student and teacher civil rights and freedoms

 

Chris Williams actively serves throughout Tennessee as an impartial education dismissal hearing officer in grievances and disputes between local school boards and individual employees, both professional and non-professional, and is listed as approved by the Tennessee School Boards Association. 

 

We gladly adjust our schedules to meet the needs of our local government and school district clients, and we often work in the evening when most government committees and school boards meet. We are always willing to travel to attend hearings and meetings, but we also work to identify opportunities to do business via telephone conference calls, e-mail, or other cost-saving ways for our clients.