Brittany Flaherty Theis

Brittany Flaherty Theis focuses her practice on the representation of school
districts and other taxing bodies in property tax disputes and regarding such
topics as board governance, Freedom of Information Act requests, Open
Meetings Act requirements, administrative law and procedure, personnel and
employment matters, intergovernmental agreements, land acquisition and
disposition, special education, media, bond issuances, business operations, risk
management, and school finance. Ms. Theis actively monitors legislation and
other legal developments impacting school districts throughout Illinois.

She regularly advises on issues impacting the valuation of property throughout
Illinois and has participated in the representation of public bodies before circuit
courts, mediators, county boards of review, the Illinois Pollution Control Board,
Illinois Department of Revenue, Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, and Illinois
Appellate Court. Ms. Theis’ work includes the preparation of pleadings,
memoranda, and briefs, as well as arguments, in cases before those tribunals.
She has also presented at seminars to school district administrators and
assessment officials throughout Illinois on this topic.

Ms. Theis participated in the mediation of a billion-dollar property tax
assessment dispute, representing numerous public bodies. She has assisted in
successfully litigating and negotiating both short- and long-term settlement
agreements regarding the assessment and taxation of numerous properties,
including nuclear power plants, oil refineries, pollution control facilities, and
other high value commercial and industrial properties. In related litigation, Ms.
Theis served on the team that successfully defended, on appeal in the Fourth
District, a trial court’s findings of several violations of the Freedom of
Information Act and the Open Meetings Act by a State agency. As a part of that
team, in the Illinois Supreme Court, she also challenged the Pollution Control
Board’s refusal to allow taxing bodies to intervene in pollution control facility
certification proceedings in which property owners seek preferential tax
treatment.

In addition to property tax litigation, Ms. Theis regularly advises clients in
matters regarding school finance including property tax levies, interfund
transfers, borrowing, and contract preparation and review. She serves as local
counsel and disclosure counsel on bond financings – assisting school district
clients from the early planning stages through closing and post-issuance
matters. She actively presents on these topics throughout Illinois to both small
and large groups of administrators.

Ms. Theis also advises clients on personnel matters, including contract
preparation and review, disciplinary matters, and state and federal
accommodation laws. Her experience and interests also include student
matters such as student rights and responsibilities and special education.

Ms. Theis serves as a hearing officer in student disciplinary hearings. These
interests flow naturally into her passion for navigating policy matters on behalf
of school district clients. Recent policy questions that continue to evolve include
accommodations involving students who are transgender, constitutional
questions, issues of school safety, and internet safety and social media.

In 2022, Ms. Theis was named as an “Emerging Lawyer” in the areas of School
Law; Real Estate Law: Tax; and Government, Municipal, Lobbying &
Administrative Law by Law Bulletin Media’s “Leading Lawyers” division.
Attorneys selected for this honor are recognized as being leaders in the legal
profession.

Education

• J.D., cum laude, The John Marshall Law School, Order of John Marshall
• B.S., summa cum laude, Bradley University

Admitted to Practice

• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Supreme Court of Illinois

Organizations

• American Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Kane County Bar Association
• DuPage County Bar Association
• National Council of School Attorneys
• Illinois Council of School Attorneys
• Illinois Association of School Business Officials