Shawn M. McLain

Shawn McLain concentrates his practice on education, litigation, and labor and employment law. Shawn works directly with boards of education and administrative teams to proactively ensure legal compliance, address legal issues in a timely and cost-effective manner, and defend schools in litigation.

Shawn has over ten years of experience advising clients on special education law, student accommodations, employe and union grievances, collective bargaining, school board policies and procedures, regulatory compliance, employee misconduct and dismissal, student misconduct and discipline, student rights, records requests, TIF and special taxing districts, civil rights laws, intellectual property, the intersection of technology and education law, and many other school law issues.

Shawn devotes much of his practice to the defense of schools against civil litigation claims including those involving personal injury, wrongful death, civil rights, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and breach of contract. Shawn has successfully represented public schools before state and federal courts, in arbitrations, through union negotiations and grievances, and in administrative hearings.

Shawn provides personnel training to employees, administrators, and boards on a multitude of topics and is a frequently requested speaker on special education, labor and employment issues, legal compliance, civil rights, and school technology.

In addition to his school law experience, Shawn also previously served as a senior in-house counsel at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. At Wells Fargo, Shawn managed significant labor and employment matters in jurisdictions across the United States and provided legal and business advice to internal clients on collective bargaining, unionization, employment discrimination and harassment, employment privacy, government relations, regulatory compliance, and a variety of other employment law and business matters. As in-house counsel, Shawn learned valuable lessons on how to provide candid and cost-effective legal advice to clients and address competing business and legal related risks.

During law school, Shawn worked as a law clerk with the labor counsel for the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police and as an intern with the litigation department of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Outside of his work with clients, Shawn has served as an executive board member on multiple boards and is an adjunct professor with the School of Education at Saint Louis University where he teaches school law and advanced school law.