The EdCounsel Story

Why We Exist

EdCounsel exists to serve people in public education. We served our first public school on January 1, 2014, and now represent over 200 public school districts. This unprecedented success is attributed to one thing—an uncompromising dedication to public schools and public school leaders. As our name boldly states, “EdCounsel: School Attorneys” is a law firm that exists to serve public schools.

The Challenge for Public Schools

Public school leaders deserve counsel and consultants that will work for their District and share the school’s goal of serving kids first. The challenge is that most traditional law firms have other goals. While public schools exist to serve kids, traditional law firms exist to serve lawyers. Law firms traditionally organize themselves to provide services in a way that maximizes profits, and works best for the firms, at the expense of what is best for public schools. As these firms advise their clients and make recommendations for schools, they do so with the primary goal of financial success for their firm.


If public schools simply had advisors that would make public schools and school leaders the priority, kids could be better served by their schools. Public school leaders are constantly trying to find better, more innovative ways to serve kids. School leaders needed a school law firm who was willing to try to find a better way for public schools

Making it Work Best for Public Schools

EdCounsel was created to ensure public school leaders have a legal service provider whose primary goal is to address school legal needs, not simply make money. To best serve public schools today, a law firm must structure itself to serve the specific needs of public schools and their leaders. School leaders must make timely decisions that often have profound and long-term impacts on the lives of kids. As leaders make these decisions, they must consider legal risks, compliance with legal requirements, and reconcile other competing priorities in arriving at the best solutions to complex problems. When law firms provide services to non-school clients, they may make more money, but they sacrifice competence in school matters, accessibility to school clients, and responsiveness to school specific needs. Public schools are not their true priority.

Competent, Accessible, Responsive and Trusted School Attorneys

EdCounsel has grown at a phenomenal rate because we are passionately dedicated to providing legal services to public schools. We are organized with the primary purpose of providing competent, accessible, responsive, and trusted legal advice for school leaders. This commitment is without equal. Public school leaders deserve nothing less.

Blog Posts

By Tom Smith 28 Feb, 2022
As school leaders are aware, the CDC issued an Order on January 29, 2021, that required masking on all public transportation. This included public school buses. However, on February 25, the CDC announced that it was “exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people...
By Duane Martin 16 Feb, 2022
In a recent tweet, we pointed out that the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA) had provided written testimony in support of the proposed open enrollment bill, HB 1814.  As part of a subsequent legislative update, MSBA claimed that “there is considerable misinformation being shared about...
03 Dec, 2021
As most Missouri school districts are aware, last week a judgment was issued out of the Circuit Court of Cole County in a case involving the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (“DHSS”) which has significant implications for school districts. While we have already...
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