312.332.7760 (tel.)
312.332.7768 (fax)
hkatz@rsnlt.com

Practice Areas: Education Law, Finance, Municipal Law, Property Tax & Revenue Preservation

Heidi Katz provides legal representation to public school districts, community colleges and other local governmental entities. Areas of specialty include policy development, students' rights and special education issues, student discipline, finance, real estate, boundary changes, civil rights and intergovernmental agreements.

Heidi is a past president of the Illinois Council of School Attorneys, and is a member of the Council's Executive Committee. She has prepared a series of amicus briefs on behalf of the Illinois Association of School Boards for appeals of court decisions on matters of critical concerns to school districts, in cases including Nuxoll v. Indian Prairie School District No. 204, 523 F.3d 668 (7th Cir. 2008) (the "Be Happy, Not Gay" T-shirt litigation), and Chicago Tribune v. Chicago Board of Education, 332 Ill.App.3d 60 (1st Dist.), leave to appeal denied 201 Ill.2d 562 (2002), in which the appellate court held educational records sought for an investigation into student absenteeism to be exempt from inspection and copying under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. She also prepared the IASB / IASBO amicus brief which the Illinois Supreme Court cited for its rationale in In re County Collector of DuPage County, 187 Ill.2d 326 (1999), holding that there is no correlation under The School Code between school districts' budgets and levies adopted in the same calendar year.

Heidi has spoken at the National Council of School Attorneys' annual School Law Practice Seminar on issues relating to student First Amendment rights, and has served as co-author and editor of the "Student Rights and Responsibilities" chapter for two editions of the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education's School Law treatise. She has conducted numerous Administrators' Academies on the subject of school Internet liability issues.

Heidi served as a law clerk to the late Judge Thomas R. McMillen, United States District Judge, Northern District of Illinois. Her pre-law career included newspaper and radio for the Naperville Sun and WDVH Radio in Gainesville, Florida.

Education

• J.D., Loyola University of Chicago, School of Law, 1979
• B.A. cum laude, Journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Phi Beta Kappa), 1973

Admitted to Practice

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Trial Bar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Trial Bar of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
• Supreme Court of Illinois

Awards

• Illinois Leading Lawyer, Employment and School Law, 2004-2010
• Illinois Super Lawyers, 2005-2009

Organizations

• Chicago Bar Association
• Illinois Bar Association
• Illinois Council of School Attorneys
• National Council of School Attorneys

Recent Publications

• Can the 'Heckler's Veto' Trump Tinker-protected Student Speech?, National Council of School Attorneys' Inquiry & Analysis Newsletter (February 2006)
• Chapter editor / Contributing author, "Student Rights and Responsibilities," ILLINOIS SCHOOL LAW (IICLE 1999 and 2005)

Recent Presentations

• Legal Issues in Clinical Education, Metro Chicago Healthcare Council at West Suburban College of Nursing, Oak Park, IL (August 2009)
• Guidelines for Law Enforcement Interviews of Students at School, IASB/IASA/IASBO 2008 Joint Annual Conference, Chicago, IL (panel member – November 2008)
• The Ongoing Struggle: Balancing Students' Education Rights v. Students' Safety, Illinois State Bar Association Education Law Section, Hoffman Estates, IL (panel member – February 2008)
• Risk Management Programs: Illinois Appellate Court Tightens The Tort Levy Purse Strings, Illinois Association of Park Districts 2007 Legal Symposium, Oak Brook, IL (November 2007)
• "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" Inquiry Into Student Speech Issues, IASB/IASA/IASBO 2007 Joint Annual Conference, Chicago, IL (November 2007)
• Internet Liability Issues for Schools, presented at numerous Regional Office of Education centers for Administrators' Academy credit (2007-09)
• Can the "Heckler's Veto" Trump Tinker-Protected Student Speech?, National Council of School Attorneys 2006 School Law Advocacy Seminar, Kansas City, MO (October 2006)