State & Local Government
Archer has decades of experience representing the interests of governmental clients. The attorneys in our State and Local Government Group represent counties, municipalities, independent authorities, and state and bi-state agencies on the full range of issues impacting government entities. In our role, we know our clients’ world and understand the unique challenges they face on a daily basis. Our deep knowledge and experience in the substantive and procedural law that applies to them enables us to quickly tackle any problem or issue and offer solutions.
We pride ourselves on the long-term relationships we have developed with our governmental clients and have worked closely with them over the years to establish best practices and procedures. Our understanding of how government works at the administrative and legislative levels has been critical to positive outcomes, and our attorneys have handled virtually every issue currently facing municipalities. We know that every public issue is unique and of importance to the communities involved and never take a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
Economic development is a strong focus of our group. We handle real estate acquisitions and sales for local governments and agencies and have extensive experience in land use, land development, and permitting and zoning matters. We routinely assist with developing and enforcing land use regulations that are instrumental in shaping positive, vibrant communities as they grow. We have helped municipalities and other governmental entities in acquiring land, easements and rights-of-way for a wide array of public projects. Through either skilled negotiation or, when necessary, eminent domain, we have successfully acquired property rights for various projects.
We provide a full range of legal services related to the myriad of laws and regulations that govern our clients’ operations , including Open Public Records Act requests, Open Meetings Act, Fair Housing Act, Owner Controlled Insurance Programs, bid protests, bonding, drafting of PLAs, conflict of interest laws, record retention requirements, election law, sales and use tax issues, ethics questions, affordable housing, local utility law, vendor contracts, lease interpretations, contractual disputes, construction litigation, municipal tax appeals, and environmental law matters.
Our group regularly handles all employment law matters for public entities with a focus on personnel issues, labor law, collective bargaining agreements, and other employment and labor issues. Group members have represented municipalities and state and local authorities in a variety of taxable and tax-exempt financings, and have issued opinions as bond counsel and have served as underwriter’s counsel or trustee’s counsel on a wide range of public finance transactions.
The group also maintains an active litigation practice representing governmental clients in state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels. We routinely handle litigation for public entities involving, among other areas, civil rights litigation, tort claims, handling of solid waste and other environmental issues.
