Kennedy & Graven, Chartered

Minnesota owned:: Yes
In Minnesota since:: 1973
Website:: www.kennedy-graven.com
Business Specialties:: Student Issues, Employment Law and Discrimination, School Board Matters, Labor Relations & Collective Bargaining, Special Education Issues, Bonding and Public Finance, Construction and Real Estate
Location:: Minneapolis, MN

The School Law Practice Group of Kennedy & Graven, Chartered recognizes the needs of school officials for dependable legal advice on a broad range of issues. We are sensitive to the fact that school administrators and school boards serve many constituencies - students and parents, teachers and district employees, and taxpayers. We provide creative, timely, cost-efficient legal solutions that balance the needs of the entire school community, while keeping the school district on solid legal footing.

Our attorneys advise and represent school districts throughout Minnesota, as general counsel or on particular matters impacting school districts. Our school law attorneys can knowledgeably address the diverse and complex issues your district faces. With decades of experience in school law, we bring integrity and historical perspective to today's problems.

Contacts

Greg Madsen
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(612) 337-9305

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For more than three decades, Greg Madsen has represented school districts and other employers in employment, discrimination, labor and commercial litigation and arbitration matters and has advised them on practices designed to prevent lawsuits. Greg is a Minnesota State Bar Association Board-Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law. Greg represents Minnesota school districts in virtually all phases of education law, including student disciplinary matters, employee discipline and discharge proceedings, discrimination and harassment claims, and data privacy, constitutional, and collective bargaining issues.

Greg has a special appreciation for the needs of employers seeking assistance in establishing preventive labor and employment practices. He served as Director of Employee Relations and Labor Relations Counsel at Republic Airlines, Inc. from 1983-1985. Greg is a frequent speaker at seminars and provides training on various labor, employment, and education law issues.

Greg served as a school board member of the Mounds View School District from 2008-2018. While attending the University of Minnesota, Greg covered the Minnesota State Legislature, the Minneapolis City Council and other governmental, legal, and political affairs as a reporter and editor for the Minnesota Daily. He received his undergraduate degree in Journalism, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota and was selected as a Phi Beta Kappa scholar. Greg also received his law degree from the University of Minnesota, where he taught legal research and writing.

Maggie Wallner
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(612) 337-9301

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Maggie R. Wallner has provided legal counsel to numerous Minnesota school districts for three decades. She concentrates her practice in the areas of employment and labor law, administrative hearings, the administration of collective bargaining agreements and grievance arbitration, discrimination and civil rights law, student discipline, education law and employee benefits. She has also represented school districts in litigation matters in state, federal and appellate courts.

Maggie is a frequent lecturer, most prominently in the areas of discrimination and civil rights laws, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, public sector employment law, teacher tenure law and sexual harassment.

A graduate from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Maggie received her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in 1988. She formerly worked as a county child protection social worker and in the labor relations department of Northwest Airlines, Inc.

Alex D. Ivan
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(612) 337-9304

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Alex D. Ivan is an attorney with Kennedy & Graven, Chartered. Prior to joining Kennedy & Graven, he practiced in Arizona with a firm representing over 40 public school districts throughout that State. Alex’s practice is concentrated primarily in the areas of education law and civil litigation, with a particular emphasis on special education law.

A Colorado native, Alex earned his B.A. in economics and political science, summa cum laude, from Baylor University where he was selected as a Phi Beta Kappa scholar. Before entering law school, he taught high school English and obtained his M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University. Alex received his J.D. from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University. While a law student, he worked in the Arizona Department of Education’s Special Education Dispute Resolution Unit. Alex is licensed to practice in Minnesota and Arizona, and is a member of the National School Boards Association Council of School Attorneys.

Contact the Minnesota Association of School Personnel Administrators

PO BOX 4485
Saint Paul MN 55104

[email protected]