Working Groups

This working group/listserv is only availble to IMLA’s Municipal Members. Please email eeiselt@imla.org with any questions.

Our intent is to create a means for members to share information about ongoing and possible future municipal affirmative litigation activity, including but not limited to:

• energy industry responsibility for climate change impacts
• vaping industry responsibility for injury and addiction
• pharmaceutical industry anticompetitive and “patent thicket” activity restricting generics
• financial industry collusion and manipulation of interest rates
• chemical industry responsibility for PFAS, PFOA and other environmental injury
• false claims actions

Our plan is to host calls focusing on litigation areas of greatest interest to participants and to redistribute documents and filings useful in a local government’s assessment of given actions.

This list is intended to act as a vehicle for discussion of legal and policy issues associated with the legal representation of airports.

This group is intended to Canadian municipal lawyers with a forum to raise issues and dialogue, covering everything from law office/benchmarking, to ethical dilemmas faced, to legal issues.  Members are encouraged to raise questions and share ideas in an environment that promotes sharing amongst those who have practical similarities in their roles.

This list is designed to give City Attorneys a place to discuss issues and network.

 The discussion will focus on legal and practical issues for local government attorneys associated with promoting civility in local government.

By way of background, there is a feeling, if not a reality, that civility, public discourse, and interactions we all have with one another are becoming more negative by the day. This, we find, is true in local government as well. NLC released a report in 2021 highlighting the existence of the issue on a national scale (https://www.nlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/On-the-Frontlines-of-Todays-Cities-1.pdf).

Engagement with the people is essential to our form of government. This is especially true when it comes to local governments. The discussion between a local entity and the public is not like Twitter, an uncivil individual can’t just be removed from the platform. Local governments are tasked with finding ways to operate that maximize public engagement and free speech while maintaining order and civility in public meetings, amongst local officials, between local officials and the public, and on social media.

Join Robert Palmer, the General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs for the Iowa League of Cities and Amanda Karras, IMLA’s Executive Director/General Counsel, to discuss the role of the local government attorney in assisting the government in promoting civility, including a discussion of legal considerations in doing so.

This list is designed to help advance laws, policies and legal tools that cities and municipalities can use to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon reduction goals. It is intended as an opportunity for colleagues to share information, ideas and solutions on challenging legal questions associated with climate mitigation policies.

The workgroup has regular monthly calls designed for code enforcement or the development of laws and practices intended to resolve problems within a community.

Members are expected to come primarily from law offices where their principal area of practice involves construction law.

This group is intended for discussion of those issues unique to country governance.

This listserv is utilized to provide resources to it’s members in the wake of a disaster. We keep a comprehensive database of disaster resources from municipality all around the country. We have used the list in response to fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, COVID-19 and more.

This listserv is intended to act as a vehicle for discussion of legal and policy issues associated with diversity.

This group deals with the ever-evolving legal world of evidence, litigation holds, spoliation, privacy, data protection, and more. Join this group to see how to best protect and preserve your office’s data.

While most local government attorneys are appointed, some are elected by their constituents.  Being an elected local government attorney presents unique challenges.  This working group will provide a forum for elected local government attorneys to collaborate on common issues unique to their situation.

Members are expected to come primarily from law offices where their principal area of practice is employment law.

Public health, building codes and enforcement, municipal water problems and environmental protection, solid and hazardous waste management.

The Ethics Section and listserv are intended to provide members with an opportunity to share questions and issues involving the Rules of Professional Conduct or the development and application of state and local ethics laws.  Members are encouraged to share ideas for improving state and local regulations of ethical conduct and to discuss concerns about the Rules of Professional Conduct and interpretations of those Rules to governmental lawyers and their practices whether in-house or outside counsel. The Section has regularly scheduled teleconferences to discuss and share issues involving these ethical issues.

The Federal listserv provides the Litigation Section with a vehicle to share ideas about civil rights and other litigation, experts, causes of action and defenses.  The Section offers an opportunity through regular teleconferences to discuss emerging trends in litigation, new cases and ways in which to best defend the local government client and its officers.

This list is intended as a vehicle for attorneys who advise Local Government Fire Services to communicate and share ideas and solutions to issues that arise in representing those agencies.

This listserv seeks offer an opportunity for local government attorneys to discuss issues involving homelessness and solutions to the problems communities face in addressing those issues.

This listserv is a joint project of the IMLA and the State and Local Legal Center (SLLC). This listserv will report on the activities of the SLLC and IMLA. It provides members an opportunity to comment on whether IMLA should join a case as an amicus, creates a forum for discussion of cases important to local governments and to inform IMLA and SLLC in their efforts to represent the interests of local governments. It is intended for thoughtful comment and analysis.

This listserv seeks offer an opportunity for local government attorneys to discuss issues involving Land Use and solutions to the problems communities face in addressing those issues. The group has also drafted codes and ordinances that have been provided to IMLA members.

Headed by Erich Eiselt, IMLA Assistant General Counsel, IMLA’s Music Licensing Work Group is focused on developing reasonable terms and conditions with Performing Rights Organizations for the use of copyrighted musical works by municipalities. IMLA previously negotiated a standard form of local government PRO license agreement and, with one PRO, an IMLA member discount. As technologies have evolved and new PROs have entered the market, it is appropriate to review those agreements and relationships. Our goals is to seek appropriate license provisions and to serve as a clearing house of information and resources for IMLA members as they interact with PROs. We anticipate that the Music Licensing Group will convene for calls every two weeks.

This listerv was created to allow new lawyers (in age and/or experience) to communicate with one another. Should you have any questions or issues you’d like to share with your fellow colleagues, posting it on the list will allow all the members of this listerv to view and respond. You must be under 40 years old and have been practicing law for no more than 7 years. This list aids in the work of our New Lawyers committee.

Headed by Erich Eiselt, IMLA Assistant General Counsel, IMLA’s Opioid Litigation Work Group is a resource for localities seeking more insight about the opioid litigation underway across the country. Convening every two weeks, typically on Tuesdays at 1 PM Eastern, the Opioid Work Group discusses the growing spectrum of actions by municipalities against the opioid manufacturers, distributors and other defendants, focusing not only on the federal Multi-District Litigation (MDL) in the Northern District of Ohio, but on numerous state court actions. Calls–which are attended by upwards of 40 jurisdictions– encourage input from participants; some calls have included legal experts from academia and leading opioid plaintiffs’ counsel to take questions from attendees. Participants have discussed such issues as the merits of AG-led actions, nuances of retainer agreements, issues to consider before filing, state court versus federal court actions, and so on.

In addition to hosting bi-weekly calls, IMLA summarizes significant orders from the MDL and and state proceedings.

This group is being created to discuss alternatives to policing that local governments are exploring.  A number of local governments have launched programs intended to provide unarmed crisis responders.  Because this is a new approach, the legal issues our members are encountering are also novel.  This group will allow members to collectively brainstorm issues surrounding alternatives to policing.

This list is designed for those attorneys assigned to advise police departments. It is intended as an opportunity for colleagues to share information, ideas and solutions involving those important issues that affect police agencies and the performance of their duties.

This working group was formed to assist local government attorneys with professional sports teams in their jurisdictions.  This group will provide resources to local government attorneys working in this area, whether you are actively negotiating with a sports team or looking for more of a high level overview of issues in this area.

This list seeks to serve counsel to state leagues and the attorneys who represent state associations of municipal or county attorneys.

This working group is intended to provide municipal lawyers with a forum to identify and address issues of particular interest to smaller and/or rural communities. All municipal lawyers are invited to join in and contribute to regularly scheduled teleconferences, and to attend the group’s presentations and functions at IMLA’s conferences and seminars.

This group is a resource and action group for members seeking to get involved in telecom and technology issues impacting local government. This group is currently focusing on small cell deployment and net neutrality. As other issues arise, the group will tackle those as well.

Deals with interactions between local governments and the universities and colleges within those jurisdictions and includes discussion of issues like housing, rental properties, alcohol abuse and rowdies; as well as other problems and solutions.

This group discusses legal issues related to hosting the world cup and is intended for jurisdictions that are hosting the event.

This group intends to host periodic zoom calls for the 9th circuit to discuss important recent decisions or legislation of interest.