Legal Advice
Your community college’s TASB membership includes access to dedicated community college attorneys who can provide legal advice by phone, at 800.580.1488, at no additional charge to the college.
Who can call?
College decision makers, including each trustee and the college president or chancellor, and others authorized by the board and college president, may call to seek and act upon legal advice for the college.
How does legal consultation work?
Consulting with a TASB community college attorney is easy. Simply call our toll-free number, 800.580.1488, leave your information with our administrative staff and an attorney will return your call. Calls are answered between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CST most business days. Calls initiated after 4:30 p.m. may be returned the following business day.
Will a conversation with a TASB Community College Services attorney be kept confidential?
Yes. We have purposefully structured our consultation service to preserve the confidentiality of the TASB community college attorneys’ conversations with community colleges. Unless we have your permission, we do not share the contents of the phone conversations with anyone outside of TASB Community College Services or duly authorized representatives of the college.
Occasionally, more than one college representative will call with related questions about the same issue. In these circumstances, please keep in mind that our confidential relationship rests with the college as an entity, not with any individual person. Consequently, the content of conversations may be disclosed to other representatives of the same college.
Do TASB Community College Services attorneys give legal advice to people other than college representatives?
No. Because TASB Community College Services serves community college members as if they were clients, offering legal advice to members of the public would be a conflict of interest. Similarly, the TASB attorneys do not advise college employees about their employment rights.
Will a TASB community college attorney advise a trustee who is on the minority side of an issue?
Yes. Each trustee is an elected official who represents the college. The TASB community college attorneys respond to calls from all members. Remember, however, that we are here to serve the best interests of the board as a whole, not individual members.
Can calling a TASB community college attorney take the place of contacting the college's private attorney?
No. We offer advice on a wide range of topics as part of a free service that can be a money and time saver for community colleges. Our community college attorneys have several years of experience working on higher education-law issues. Our statewide scope and attention to policy and legislative matters give us a bird's eye view of Texas higher education that can be valuable to college officials and attorneys alike.
That said, the service has its limits. We do not provide direct representation of community colleges. If your college were to choose a course of action and later be challenged on the decision, a TASB community college attorney would not be the attorney you would call upon to defend the choice. We are also limited in our knowledge of the relevant facts and circumstances to the information provided in a brief phone conversation. Even seemingly simple legal issues can become complicated as you gather more information about the factual context. In such circumstances, the college’s private attorney is in a superior position to assimilate the relevant facts.
The TASB community college attorneys do attempt to answer every question, but when appropriate, will refer you to your college’s private counsel.
Do the TASB community college attorneys provide written legal opinions?
No. The college’s private attorney should write any formal legal opinions for the college. Although the TASB community college attorneys may provide callers with citations to policy, case law, statutes, and other legal sources to support their legal advice and reasoning, they do not issue formal letter opinions.
Do the TASB community college attorneys answer questions sent by email?
Yes. We have a Legal Inbox that members may use to send questions by email. The email address is colleges@tasb.org. Typically, a TASB community college attorney will respond to your email by calling you, not by emailing a response. We do this because we find that live conversations give us a better chance to ask you questions and offer more complete answers and advice. A TASB community college attorney will respond to your email with a phone call on the next business day (or sooner) if you provide your name, community college, position at the college, and phone number along with your inquiry.