Sunshine Laws and the Vulnerability of Consultant Work Product in Public Works Construction Disputes The United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and similar state-level open records statutes are intended to promote transparent government operations.  However, when public agency owners encounter construction disputes, such "sunshine laws" may become an obstacle to resolving them.  This presentation will explore the vulnerability of consultant work product to public records act demands against the intersection of attorney-client and work product privilege. Speaker: Bryan Payne...

Fundamentals of Municipal Finance and Borrowing Municipal attorneys are often asked, “Can we do this?”, when “this” relates to getting, spending, and borrowing money by their municipal clients. This session will consider the essential legal issues attendant to that question. We will discuss basic constitutional issues like public purpose, corporate purpose, and lending of the public credit; the theoretical distinction between taxes and fees; the legal ramifications of that distinction; and other limitations on the ways that municipalities can get...

Post-COVID Equitable Housing Preemption CLE available to Kitchen Sink Subscribers and in some cases to others but fees may apply. This session examines state preemption of local authority to protect tenants and expand access to affordable housing, particularly following the implementation and expiration of emergency measures passed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many state legislatures, in both “red” and “blue” states, preempt local governments from increasing housing supply, crafting inclusionary zoning, or implementing rent regulations to alleviate housing unaffordability. This dynamic...

Practical Implications of the Supreme Court’s Recent Free Exercise and Establishment Decisions This webinar will address the practical implications of recent Supreme Court decisions about the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses. Led by a practicing First Amendment lawyer and a First Amendment specialist at UVA Law School, it will cover religious exemptions from civil rights law, prayer in public schools, school funding decisions, and ways in which rhetoric about religious freedom can affect case outcomes. Both of the speakers have...

Regulating Short-Term Rentals Where we’ve been and where we can go. This presentation will discuss lessons learned and recent trends related to regulating short-term rentals (STRs). This includes the application of the dormant commerce clause, due process, equal protection, and takings provisions of the Constitution; and the role of zoning tools, regulating platforms, and business regulations in improving compliance. Lastly, this presentation will consider what success looks like. Speaker: Patricia "Trish" Link & Ashley J. Becnel