ORANGE COUNTY

Volume 134, 2017

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Chaos is King, Until its Not:

A Solos Guide to Order
Evan Walker
A Time to ACT
Jason
Hughes
What You
Know vs.
Who You Know Is Your Law Firms
Mike Homepage Design Lacking
OHoro Important Elements?
Kevin Evans
Why Clients Drive
Technology Adoption California Case
Mary Juetten Summaries ADR
Monty McIntyre
4 Ways to Find Fresh
Content Ideas For Your Five Tips on Hiring an SEO
Blog and Social Media Firm for Your Law Practice
Corrie Benfield Josh Gerben

Law Firm of the Month

Parker & Covert LLP , Tustin

Earning an A Representing School
and Community College Districts
 Ea rn i n g
a n A Representing School and
Community College Districts
For Four Decades, Parker & Covert LLPs Specialized Service,
Immediate Access to Experienced Attorneys, and Premium
Work Product Has Earned Consistently High Marks
by Jennifer Hadley

P
arker & Coverts status as one of Californias premier
Education Law Firms is well documented, from its
history as one of the first law firms to specialize in
education law, to its 39-year history as an industry leader.
Indeed, the firms longevity and outstanding reputation have
stood the test of time, as the result of the firms focus on
their specialized practice, immediate accessibility to highly
experienced attorneys, and the premium work products
delivered to school and college clients.
Our niche is in representing school and community college
districts throughout California, says Managing Partner
Douglas Yeoman, who comes from a family of teachers and
education administrators, and joined the firm in 1988. Our
practice areas are very specialized in that we exclusively
represent school and community college districts and the
individuals that manage them. Our primary district contacts
and clients are Superintendents, College Chancellors and
Presidents, Assistant Superintendents of Human Resources
and Business, and, Special Education Professionals. On a
local level, we work with school site Principals and Assistant
Principals, he says.
Specialized Service
One of the benefits of maintaining a narrow practice area
focus, is that it ensures that the team at Parker & Covert is
completely devoted to serving the needs of schools, which
also reduces the likelihood that the firm will find conflicts of
interest when cases are referred to them.
Interestingly, the firms founders didnt initially plan to
specialize in representing school and community college
districts. However, when Proposition 13 passed in 1978,
founding partners Spencer E. Covert and Clayton H. Parker
(deceased) were already well versed in providing counsel to
schools and districts, and identified the increased demand for
education law experts which arose as the result.
The passage of Proposition 13 resulted in dramatic
funding cuts for education in California, and we found that
few firms specialized in representing school and community

16 Attorney Journal Orange County | Volume 134, 2017

 christopher TODD studios

LAW FIRM
OF THE MONTH
2017
2014

Attorney Journal Orange County | Volume 124, 2016 17


Attorneys of Parker & Covert LLP (Stacy L. Toledo missing).
college districts. Prior to that time, schools called the County
Counsels office for advice, says Covert. As it happened, he
and Parker worked together in the Orange County Counsels
office, where Parker was the chief assistant county counsel,
or second-in-command of the office for more than a decade.
For his part, Covert had always believed firmly in the power
of public education. My father was a school Superintendent
in Orange County and my mother was the librarian at
Fullerton High School. Deciding to pursue education law
came naturally to me, he says. Thus, after working alongside
Parker, the two decided to focus their efforts on education
law. After Proposition 13 passed, education law became
18 Attorney Journal Orange County | Volume 134, 2017
christopher TODD studios
more complicated. It forced the school and community
college districts to consult with outside counsel concerning
everything from real property to civil rights issues, Covert
explains.
Because it was one of the first firms of its kind in Southern
California, Parker & Covert were at the forefront of significant
developments in education law, from the firms inception. In
fact, just three years after opening their doors, the firm drafted
the first Communities Facilities District for a school district
under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act.
That same year, Parker & Covert successfully represented the
Fullerton Joint Union High School District in a proceeding
that went all the way to the California Supreme Court. The
published decision, Fullerton Joint Union High School District
v. State Board of Education (1982) 32 Cal.3d 779, 187 Cal.
Rptr. 398, reversed a neighboring districts unification plan
on various grounds.
In Fullerton, the important issue of one person, one
vote was clearly before the Court because a majority of
impacted voters were excluded from voting on the future of
the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. In addition,
there were also environmental consequences regarding the
proposed reorganization. The Courts decision affirmed the
importance of voting as well as the requirement to consider
environmental consequences, recalls Covert.
The firm had thus secured its place as a leading education
law firm, with this and other successes, and they were only
just getting started. By 1989, the firm had filed more than 150
lawsuits on school financing-related issues on behalf of school
districts, and had established core areas of practice which
the firm still focuses on today. As a full-service education
law firm, Advisory Services, Employee Training, Litigation,
Negotiations and Labor Relations, Special Education Law,
Student Issues, Real Property, and Facilities and Finance are
all well within the firms wheelhouse.
Immediate Access to
Experienced Attorneys
The attorneys at Parker & Covert who provide these much-
needed services, are all seasoned education law experts. They
insist upon being accessible to clients. When clients call us,
we are there for them without delay, says Yeoman. Since
our firms founding almost 40 years ago, we have always taken
pride in providing our clients with same day responses and
accessibility, he adds.
Moreover, clients needing help will find that they work
directly with one of the firms eight partners, most who have
more than 20 years of experience in the firms specialized
practice areas. In addition to Covert and Yeoman, the firms
six additional partners include Jonathan J. Mott, who has
practiced education law since 1987, with numerous published
cases including Park v. Anaheim Union High School District
(9th Cir. 2006) 464 F.3d 1025, and Los Angeles Unified School
District v. City of Los Angeles (1997) 58 Cal.App.4th 1019, 68
Cal.Rptr.2d 467.
Partner Michael Y.M. Toys experience in education law
began in 1984, and includes expertise in technical areas
unique to school and community college districts, including
Brown Act requirements, Public Records Act requirements,
and legislative matters. He also focuses on the areas of public
finance, elections, public works and facilities, construction
litigation and real property acquisition and disposition.
Cynthia Yount, partner since 2000, joined the firm as
an associate in 1989, and uses her experience and expertise
to represent public school districts in the areas of special
education, student discipline, and nonprofit foundation
organization. She has been a regular presenter for the annual
Orange County Administrators of Special Education, as
well as the Orange County Special Education Alliance,
California Association of School Business Officials, and
California Consortium of Education Foundations. Yount
has also presented to national audiences at National School
Board Association and American Psychological Association
conferences.
Partner Steven Montanez had a career in Human Resources
for 15 years before focusing his efforts in education law.
An expert in student matters, such as discipline, residency,
compulsory school attendance, grade change, challenges
to pupil records, and complaints filed under the uniform
complaint procedure, Montanez joined Parker & Covert
in 1997.
Michael T. Travis joined Parker & Covert in 2006 and has
been partner since 2014. A frequent panelist, moderator, and
author, he has trained public schools, community colleges,
and universities regarding harassment prevention, workplace
violence, sexual harassment, Title IX, and EEO issues. He
has been named a Rising Star in Thomson Reuters Super
Lawyers list of preeminent attorneys each year since 2013.
Addison Covert, the firms Sacramento based partner
along with two Sacramento associate attorneys, are highly
seasoned in bond law, and provide counsel to school districts
on complex matters including financing for construction
of school and administrative facilities, establishment of tax
programs, state versus local responsibility for school finance,
and guidance regarding the impact of changing California
legislation on school finance and state funding levels.
Parker & Coverts team is rounded out by Associate
Attorneys Kara R. Barnthouse and Maryela Martinez in the
firms Tustin office. Meghan Covert Russell and Stacy L.
Toledo are based in the Sacramento office. All attorneys at
the firm are also highly active in the legal community, serving
in countless roles for various professional associations, such
as the Council of School Attorneys, Statewide Association
Community Colleges Defense Counsel, California School
Boards Association, Legal Advisory Committee to the CSBA
Education Legal Alliance, Coalition for Adequate School
Housing, NSBA Council of School Attorneys and California
Council of School Attorneys.
Our attorneys are diligent, hard-working and focused on
meeting clients needs often in the public eye, says Yeoman.
Moreover, because of the firms size, Yeoman says that they
are able to minimize overhead, all the while maintaining
competitive rates, which is clearly an advantage for clients.
Attorney Journal Orange County | Volume 134, 2017 19
 Premium Work Products
Specialization, responsiveness, and expertise are certainly the
hallmarks of a premier firm, but the true value in services
provided to Parker & Coverts clients, lies in the premium
work product they have consistently provided to clients over
the years. Some of the more visible cases theyve succeeded
in include AFSCME, Local 3112 v. Anaheim Union High
School District (2016) PERB Decision No. 2504 [41 PERC
80] in which the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME) filed an unfair practice
charge alleging that the Anaheim Union High School District
unlawfully conditioned an agreement and/or insisted upon
impasse in negotiations for a successor collective bargaining
agreement, including that AFSCME agree to certain
concessions in return for the Districts promise to lay off a
so-called short list of employees instead of a more extensive
long list. The District was faced with layoffs as a result of
an $11 million budget shortfall. PERB upheld the ALJ's
decision dismissing all allegations in AFSCME's complaint
and the underlying unfair practice charge.
Likewise, in California School Employees Association v.
Torrance Unified School District (2010) 182 Cal.App.4th
1040 [106 Cal.Rptr.3d 375] the California School Employees
Association (CSEA) sought a petition for writ of mandate
against the Torrance Unified School District contending
that the District violated Education Code section 45203
by failing to pay regular wages to classified employees who
did not work on staff development student-free days. The
Superior Court denied the writ and the Court of Appeal
upheld that denial, holding that staff development student
free days were not included in the provision of section 45203
requiring payment to classified employees for school days
when pupils would otherwise be in attendance. The classified
employees who did not work on staff development student-
free days were therefore not entitled to be paid regular wages
for those days pursuant to section 45203. These and many
20 Attorney Journal Orange County | Volume 134, 2017
others result in an impressive roster of published cases in
which Parker & Coverts attorneys have prevailed for clients.
But to hear Yeoman tell it, providing premium results for
clients in need, is much more than just a job for the attorneys
at Parker & Covert. It is also their passion. We work to ensure
adequate education, he says. Our clients are focused on what
is in the best interest of students. It is very rewarding, because
we are helping kids, and working together for the greater good.
Our clients hearts are in the right place, he adds.
In addition, he says that the quality of life afforded to
attorneys at Parker & Covert doesnt hurt when it comes to
offering lawyers a bit of balance. It says a lot that many of
us have all worked together for years. The fact that most of
our clients arent working Saturdays and Sundays, and our
attorneys can have a life outside of work, keeps us excited
about our work, he says. Furthermore, the camaraderie at
Parker & Covert ensures that the team is able to accomplish
their mission of providing prompt, high-quality legal advice,
Yeoman says.
If the past is any indication of whats to come, we can
expect Parker & Covert to be a permanent fixture in the
education law landscape, and thats precisely what Yeoman C
says the firm intends to do. Over the coming years, he M
expects the firm to grow modestly commensurate with
demand, while ensuring that the firm maintains their
Y
reputation for excellence, by offering immediate access to CM
experienced attorneys, providing premium service, and MY
delivering exceptional results for California school and CY
community college district clients. n CMY
Contact
K
Douglas Yeoman
17862 E. Seventeenth St., Suite 204
Tustin, CA 92780
dyeoman@parkercovert.com
www.parkercovert.com
714-573-0900