Education Law

Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act

Attorneys at Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho, P.L.C. (CMDA) have experience with both the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meetings Act. CMDA regularly works with College’s Board of Trustees to determine how to operate within the Open Meetings Act requirements. We explain to our educational clients when closed meetings may be held, what information may be discussed during closed meetings, how the minutes from those meetings must be prepared and stored, and when voting has taken place in closed meetings, what a client must do with respect to that Board action.

CMDA has prepared hundreds of responses to FOIA requests for our clients. Our attorneys have knowledge of the explicit requirements of FOIA, including what should be included in FOIA request responses, what must be disclosed, what should be redacted, and what records are exempt from disclosure.

Because of our knowledge in these areas, CMDA offers educational training and seminars to inform and educate clients on the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act, as well as advising clients on how to prevent litigation. We routinely give on-site, complementary seminars and presentations to our clients and have authored handbooks on these topics, such as 2013 Open Meetings Act Handbook.