Services

Grant Norten provides a wide range of management-oriented employment, education, occupational safety and health (OSHA), corporate, intellectual property and construction law services to diverse employers, including corporations, independent schools, public schools, supervisory unions, colleges and universities, mental health organizations, other health organizations, artists, humane societies, state agencies, municipalities, and non-profit corporations.

Employment Law (for employers):

Grant Norten’s employment law services emphasize preventative consultation from a risk-management perspective. This firm advises clients as to the full array of federal and state employment statutory, regulatory and common laws, e.g., Fair Labor Standards Act, Family Medical Leave Act provisions, as well as contract and tort (such as invasion of privacy), all as they relate to employer responsibilities.

Grant Norten reviews and prepares transactional documents, such as offer letters, employment agreements, non-competition agreements, confidentiality, agreements, intellectual property employment agreements, agreements related to employment benefits, receipt and acknowledgment forms, employment discipline documentation, separation and severance agreements and post-employment notification of breach of protective covenants.

Our firm drafts and updates personnel policies and employee handbooks and other corporate policies, e.g., document retention procedures.

Grant Norten provides training for managers and employees on such subjects as employment laws, policies and procedures, non-discrimination and harassment requirements, disciplinary processes, and at-will employment principles.

Grant Norten consults concerning a range of labor relations issues, including compliance with collective bargaining agreements. Additionally, we represent employers in relation to their federal and state occupational safety and health obligations and in response to OSHA inspections and citations.

Grant Norten conducts independent, third-party investigations for employers and schools relating to claims by individuals, including those concerning harassment and discrimination, personnel policy or student handbook provisions, business code of ethics, and corporate requirements.

We also offer consultation on corporate law issues, including articles of incorporation, articles of association, corporate by-laws, non-profit and 501(c)(3) questions, federal income tax issues, and anti-trust issues.

Although this firm consults with and advises employers from a proactive, risk-management perspective to avoid litigation, Grant Norten also provides employment litigation services and trial services for employers, including complex litigation.

Education Law (for schools):

In addition to our employment law services for schools, colleges, and universities (which include a range of specialized legal issues such as mandated reporting requirements, criminal background checks, provision of reference information, and issues relating to professional licensure), GNA counsels schools concerning compliance with a wide range of federal and state education law requirements. Again, our services focus on preventive consultation and risk management.

Grant Norten prepares student and parent handbooks, faculty and staff manuals, and general school policies, reflecting federal and state responsibilities.

We also proactively advise and consult with schools on issues concerning potential or actual claims by students and parents, including those relating to torts, contracts, civil rights, pupil privacy, and student discipline.

The firm also advises school clients with respect to state and federal special education and disability rights laws, such as IDEA, Section 504, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Grant Norten assists with due process proceedings, litigation, and related mediation processes, as well as with claims submitted to the federal Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and state human rights offices.

Grant Norten provides training to administrators, faculty and staff concerning education and civil rights laws.

Although we consult with and advise schools from a proactive, risk-management perspective to avoid litigation, Grant Norten also provides education litigation services and trial services for schools.

Intellectual property:

Grant Norten assists employers and schools in obtaining trademarks, copyrights, and domain names. We also assist our clients in identifying and protecting their intellectual property, by means of intellectual property surveys (i.e., assisting clients in identifying the intellectual property they already have and intellectual property they might develop), drafting intellectual property policies, drafting intellectual property forms, and providing intellectual property trainings for employees and managers. GNA is experienced in intellectual property litigation, including copyright litigation and trademark litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants and including “cease and desist” letters and trial work.  We also assist clients in protecting domain names in cyber-squatting disputes before ICANN. The firm both enforces unfair competition claims and defends unfair competition claims. We draft and assist with the enforcement of confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and non-competition agreements. We provide counsel to employers about trade secrets and help them to defend trade secrets.

Construction law: 

The firm provides services in connection with reviewing draft construction contracts, construction contract interpretation, and construction litigation.