Education

Schools

Primary and secondary schools operate in a highly regulated environment where they are responsible for the education, safety and well-being of students. Our specialist Education team understand the unique issues facing this sector including employment practices, data protection and privacy concerns, child protection, governance and compliance, and dispute resolution.

Our services include advice on:

• Employment law
• Bullying and harassment
• Child protection
• Implementation and compliance with Data Protection law
• Data Subject Access/FOI Requests
• Student conduct and discipline
• Social media policies and disputes
• Cyber-Security Incident Response
• Charity-related matters
• Equality and discrimination issues
• School governance
• Policies and procedures and acting for Board of Management in s.29 Appeal Procedures
• Land and building matters

Higher Education

Our dedicated University team is advisor to 12 of the universities in Ireland and has extensive experience over a period of 30 years in advising the Higher Education sector. We provide a diverse range of University Sector specific advice, advising on matters from strategic priorities such as campus redevelopment and the development of student accommodation, to corporate governance, commercial agreements, student-related advices, employment disputes and intellectual property.

Representative experience includes:

• Capital Development. Our involvement in significant capital development projects such as the University College Dublin (UCD) Future Campus project, Students and Sports Centre, IAAF-certified running track, student accommodation projects and Vet Hospital extension and new Science Centre, the University of Galway (UG) Human Biology Building, and student accommodation projects in Dublin City University (DCU), UCD, UG and University College Cork (UCC) demonstrate our capabilities in large scale projects with complex funding, extensive planning, and construction challenges.
• Employment. We understand the particular issues that arise for universities in employment law from highly specialised issues, such as challenges to academic promotion rounds, legal disputes in respect of the application of fair process within any staff investigation or disciplinary processes, to day-to-day operational concerns such as the implementation of the Fixed Term Workers’ Act for employees seeking contracts of indefinite duration (CIDs).
• University Affairs. Through decades of experience advising university leadership, we have developed a deep understanding of the unique challenges facing universities in meeting their statutory obligations, complying with internal policies and procedures and engagement with all university stakeholders. This knowledge covers not only the important legal issues and considerations required, but also encompasses an appreciation of the commercial and other non-legal issues that underpin the approach of universities in this sector, including government policy, its relationships with key stakeholders such as the Department of Education, the HEA and broader political developments. A number of our partners have particular expertise in and around the areas of Administrative and Constitutional Law, and have acted in a wide range of judicial review, particularly in the areas of both statutory and non statutory enquiries and investigations. RDJ has assisted universities in drafting and developing key policies and procedures in particular Student led processes as well as advising various investigators, committees and offices in respect of same.
• IP and Research related arrangements. RDJ has a longstanding reputation as one of the foremost advisors in the Third Level sector on research contracts, research centres, technology transfer offices and intellectual property considerations across all sectors. This experience is unrivalled in Ireland spanning across all facets from drafted template arrangements for SFI Centres and Institutions, advising on State Aid Rules, acting for Universities (and on occasion Industrial Parties) in respect of Spin Out opportunities and disputes.
• Commercial agreements. RDJ has advised universities on a host of commercial agreements including joint ventures, procurement and operational contracts, research contracts, facilities access agreements, inter higher education (HE) institutional mergers and EIB funding.
• Collaborative research. Through our substantial involvement in the collaborative research sector, we have unrivalled experience advising both spin-out companies and universities on complex IP matters, giving us a unique appreciation of knowledge transfer transactions from both the university and company perspective.
• Cyber Security Incident Response. Universities are attractive targets for cyberattacks because of the sensitive data their IT systems house. Breaches of information security damage public trust and confidence and can have serious financial and operational consequences. Our 24/7 Incident Response Service have broad experience advising education clients in the end-to-end investigation, management and recovery from security incidents.

A number of partners in the group have been representing education sector clients for many years and are actively involved in boards and committees throughout the industry. Two of our partners (Gillian Keating and Richard Martin) are Adjunct Professors in the College of Business and Law at University College Cork and lecture on various programmes at the University. Gillian Keating currently sits on the advisory committee for the BES Department at UCC and is a member of the Physical Assets Sub Committee. She was previously a board member of Cork Education and Training Board (CETB), a member of the Audit Committee for CETB and a member of the Governing Body for UCC. Gillian is also a co founder of the award winning social enterprise I Wish, a company limited by guarantee which showcases the power of STEM to girls in primary and secondary schools.

Brendan Cunningham has sat on the Advisory Board of the School of Law (part of the College of Business and Law), is a Member of the Liaison Committee between the Southern Law Association and the School of Law, a member of the Council of the Law Society and current Chair of its Education Committee.

A number of our team have also previously undertook a secondment with the legal department of universities.

Our broad experience and in house experience means we offer an unmatched ability to interface between technical and legal issues on education matters.