Legal Brief
Takeaways From My Legal Entanglements
BY JARED R. SMITH/School Administrator, March 2022

“I’M CALLING MY LAWYER!”

Superintendents hear this all the time. Often, these statements come from upset parents who believe schools mishandled a situation involving their child. Sometimes, the threats are from employees who believe they were wronged by the school district. Occasionally, it comes from students who believe they were mistreated by staff.

In most cases, “I’m calling my lawyer!” declarations go nowhere. But what happens if a parent, employee or student actually follows through? What can you expect?

Defendant Experiences

I’ve generated five takeaways from personal experiences being the defendant in a lawsuit.

»“Who exactly is getting sued?”

If you were the superintendent responsible for the situation in question, a good chance exists you will be named, along with the school district, in the lawsuit. While this is scary, understand that most school leaders experience at least one lawsuit naming them as a defend-ant during their career. Even more importantly, realize that superintendents are not individually responsible for any settlement or monetary award in most cases.

»“Will I have to pay?”

Assuming you haven’t made a colossal error in judgment, take comfort in knowing that districts typically cover lawsuit costs. School districts frequently have special funds — separate from the all-important general fund — designed to pay for legal settlements. Attorney fees and other costs associated with lawsuits are also covered using these funds or the district’s liability insurance carrier.

»“What can I do to fight this?”

When dealing with a lawsuit, superintendents will be asked to provide documentation of the incident. Therefore, it’s vital they get in the habit of proactively keeping detailed notes of situations that could potentially lead to litigation. “Well, I’m just going to go back and write down what happened” you might think upon being named in a lawsuit. Unfortunately, legal counsel will be asking for contemporaneous notes, that is documentation made at the time or shortly after an event occurs. Detailing what happened several months after the incident may carry less weight in the eyes of a judge.

»“Am I going to get fired?”

Rarely do superintendents lose their job as a result of a single litigation. Obviously, we can all think of extreme cases when district leaders make severe errors in judgment, resulting in loss of licensure or a vote of no confidence from the school board. But those incidents are few and far between. Rather than fear for their job, school district leaders should use lawsuits as learning opportunities and commit to avoiding similar mistakes in the future.

»“Will I go to court?”

Only 5 percent of civil lawsuits actually make it to court, meaning most school district leaders will never participate in a trial. What hap-pens the other 95 percent of the time? Best-case scenario: The judge throws out the lawsuit. In many situations, the school district will reach a monetary settlement with the plaintiff.

Discomforting Settlements

So why do many school districts reach settlements when the superintendent and school district did nothing wrong?

This is quite possibly the biggest takeaway for me. Even when superintendents follow best practice and keep detailed documentation, there is still a likelihood a settlement will be reached with the plaintiff. In these cases, settlements are reached for nuisance value, that is to avoid allocating time and financial resources away from student learning to defend a lawsuit.

School leaders often take things personally when a settlement is reached. This is understandable because of the perception that a settlement is an admission of guilt. However, you must realize that our culture — and legal system — support the victim mentality more than ever. Lawsuits are considered the cost of doing business today.

The next time you find yourself entangled in a legal battle, use these five takeaways to ease your fears. Also, take comfort in knowing we all go through similar experiences as superintendents.
JARED SMITH is superintendent of South Tama County School District in Tama, Iowa. Twitter: @JaredSmithPhD. This column is drawn from a recent post on his Leadership, Education, Personal Growth blog.