Discusses provisions and implications of Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 that authorizes award of attorney's fees to prevailing parties in certain civil rights cases. (Author/PKP)

Discusses attorneys' responses to inquiries from educational administrators or school board members about matters that do not exclusively involve questions of law, and recommends that attorneys clearly differentiate between the legal options and the administrative choices involved in each matter brought to their attention. (JG)

Discusses the applicability to school officials and school attorneys of the Supreme Court decision in Harlow v. Fitzgerald that an official's right to qualified immunity may be decided before trial and that an objective test is: Could the official reasonably have known that his conduct would violate someone's federal rights? (MLF)

Presents an overview of the law governing the award of attorney's fees in civil rights cases and explains the importance of the attorney's fees issue in federal lawsuits brought against educational governing boards and school officials. (Author/MLF)

Any complaint against a school employee regarding inappropriate physical punishment should be taken seriously by administrators and pursued vigorously by an investigating attorney. The standards (especially regarding probable cause and obtaining warrants) for investigating such allegations are less stringent than those imposed in criminal…