Big Law higher education practices are being showered with inquiries from university clients and others about campus protests across the country. While law firm partners said they’ve had similar upticks in inquiries related to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a new level of “urgency” from client calls lately. 

Partners say they are counseling colleges and universities about student speech, anti-discrimination, government inquiries and investigations, data privacy, civil liabilities and student conduct, among other things. That’s not to mention a string of lawsuits filed over protests.

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Katherine Brodie, partner and team co-lead of Duane Morris’ education industry group, said colleges and universities “are seeking guidance to navigate not only what their policies and procedures say they can do, but the public relations, safety, donor and other external considerations that need to be taken into account in determining next steps based on the unique circumstances faced during an on-campus protest.”

For instance, Brodie said in a statement, her firm has been approached by a private nonprofit institution seeking independent oversight of their student disciplinary process.

“In this particular instance, a student was recorded making a remark hostile to members of a particular religion during an on-campus event. This school proactively sought a neutral assessment of its current policies and procedures, including student handbook, anti-discrimination policies, and prior leadership statements about free expression to better understand their options,” Brodie said.

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Reprinted with permission from The National Law Journal, © ALM Media Properties LLC. All rights reserved.