James A. O'Shaughnessy

Jim O'Shaughnessy focuses his practice on the representation of public school districts and school boards, and other educational institutions, including charter schools and child care centers, in all aspects of school law, including employment and labor law, and special education.

Jim’s practice involves all aspects school law, including board representation and governance, school district organization and finance, policy development and implementation, special education and student disabilities, and student discipline. Jim frequently advises schools boards and superintendents regarding New Hampshire’s Right to Know Law, crisis management and student and school safety, constitutional rights of students and school employees, and compliance with state and federal laws and regulations. He conducts seminars and trainings on a variety of topics, including school district organization and board governance, effective teacher evaluations, staff misconduct investigations, employees’ and students’ rights under the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments, collective bargaining, bullying and cyberbullying, and Section 504 and the IDEA.

Jim represents public employers at the bargaining table, in grievance arbitration proceedings and mediation, in state and federal court proceedings, and before administrative agencies, including the Public Employee Labor Relations Board and the Department of Education.

Jim was a presenter at the 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010 Bradley F. Kidder Education Law Conference as well as the 2015 New Hampshire School Board's Association Training on the Board's Role in Personnel Actions, Hearings, and Decisions, and the 2012 New Hampshire School Administrators Association Collective Bargaining Retreat. Jim also serves as an instructor for the all day Current Legal Issues in Special Education workshop offered by the University of New Hampshire at Manchester. Jim authored the New Hampshire Bar Journal Article: Is Cyber-Bullying the Next “Columbine”: Can New Hampshire Schools Prevent Cyber-Bullying and Avoid Liability?

Jim graduated from Hamilton College and in the top ten percent of his class from the University of New Hampshire School Of Law. While in law school, he participated in the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program, a rigorous two-year honors program.