Cuddy & McCarthy is recognized both in New Mexico and nationally as a leading firm in the practice of education law and the representation of public-sector clients.  We have made an extensive commitment to this specialized area in order to serve the growing needs of our clients in those areas.  We currently represent the New Mexico School Boards Association (NMSBA), more than 80% of the state’s 89 school districts, and such diverse educational institutions as the Santa Fe Indian School, Institute of American Indian Arts, New Mexico School for the Deaf, the New Mexico Military Institute, and, on a contract basis, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University,New Mexico Highlands University and Western New Mexico University.

In addition, we carry a substantial caseload of litigation on behalf of New Mexico’s school districts through the New Mexico Public School Insurance Authority (NMPSIA). Our litigation through NMPSIA and on behalf of individual districts is focused primarily on school personnel and civil rights actions, but also includes the defense of schools in student rights suits, procurement and contractor disputes, board-member recall proceedings, and other school-related matters. Through our work for NMPSIA, we have represented many public-education entities for which Cuddy & McCarthy is not their only or regular counsel.

Most school law attorneys in the firm have many years experience in advising and representing state and local public bodies in all state and federal courts, and in administrative proceedings.  The breadth and depth of our experience in education and public-sector representation enables us to anticipate the problems and issues a school board and administration will face.

In our representation of schools, we emphasize prevention.  The education, personnel, and civil-rights litigation experience noted above reflects an outstanding record of successful litigation.  Litigation, however, whether judicial or administrative, is expensive and disruptive.  Consequently, we work closely with our clients to identify and anticipate potential legal problems in order to avoid litigation.

Our long experience in presenting seminars and conferences for school boards and administrators on school law issues, particularly through the New Mexico School Boards Association, has demonstrated the importance of that close working partnership with our clients.  The  agenda for the 2015 NMSBA School Law Conference are posted on our Resources/Links page.  past years’ presentations may also be found there.

We have a long history of involvement on the national level.  In the 1980’s, Partner John F. Kennedy was the first New Mexico school attorney elected to the Board of Directors of the Council of School Attorneys (COSA) of the National School Boards Association (NSBA).  COSA is the national professional association of school attorneys who represent public schools across the nation and includes the nation’s finest attorneys dedicated to school law and the representation of our public schools.  Andrew M. Sanchez was elected to the COSA Board of Directors in April 2009, and he has remained on the Board of Directors and is currently the Chair-Elect of COSA.  Mr. Sanchez will become National Chair of the Council of School Attorneys in April of 2016 at the NSBA National Conference in Boston.

We continuously assess the quality of the services we provide to our school clients; we listen to our clients. In addition to informal exchanges, we conduct regular written surveys of our school clients, in which they are asked to rate all aspects of our services to them. Those responses are compiled, analyzed, and responded to by our School Law Practice Group. In this way, we seek to ensure that we are meeting our clients’ expectations in every respect possible.