William W. Merrill

Partner

San Diego
655 West Broadway
15th Floor

TEL: (619) 525-1343
FAX: (619) 233-6118
Woody.Merrill@bbklaw.com

School Law

William Wood (“Woody”) Merrill is a Partner in the Schools and Special Education Practice Group of Best Best & Krieger LLP.  He has more than twenty-five years of experience as an employment and labor law attorney, particularly with respect to public education and other public agencies.  His experience includes collective bargaining; employment litigation; and advice and counsel to school and community college districts regarding the full spectrum of school law issues, as well as cities, counties, health care agencies, and other public agencies, regarding legal issues which they must address on a daily basis.

Mr. Merrill has served as chief spokesperson and/or advisor to management in collective bargaining.  This has included more than 50 mediation and fact finding proceedings.  He has represented public agency and private sector clients in court litigation, such as discrimination suits and writs of mandamus proceedings.  He has appeared on behalf of clients in proceedings before the Public Employment Relations Board, in arbitration hearings, in matters before commissions on professional competence (discharge of permanent certificated employees), and in classified personnel commission hearings.  Over the years, Mr. Merrill has also provided written and oral advice and counsel to governing boards and administrative staff on virtually every possible education and other public law issue, with an emphasis on preventative law, that is, taking precautions to minimize the possibility of adverse results in litigation.

Mr. Merrill also provides training and in-service to public agency clients on a broad array of personnel administration and other topics, including such matters as sexual harassment, employee performance evaluation, the Americans With Disabilities Act, conflicts of interest, the Brown Act, collective bargaining and grievance arbitrations.  He provides focused training to clients’ supervisors and (where appropriate) bargaining unit employees regarding topics of particular significance to the individual clients.

Bar & Court Admissions

• California, 1974

Education

• JD, University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco
• BA, University of Kansas