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Peter K. Fagen

Partner

San Diego
|
Des Moines
|
St. Louis
|
Los Angeles
|
Fresno
pfagen@f3law.com
D 760.304.6000
Peter K. Fagen

What can I solve for you?

With my extensive knowledge and experience in a wide range of education law issues, I’m particularly known for stepping into difficult situations involving school district governance, leadership, and labor relations. I relish the challenge of taking on seemingly intractable problems, untangling messes, and helping all players sort out and resolve differences so they can move forward.

What's it like to work with me?

I constantly look for ways I can best serve our clients, whether that’s finding optimal solutions for short-term difficulties or smoothing the path to future successes. My goal is to build a team around each client to immediately answer questions and address a range of problems as they arise. The people I represent know I’m always available to help them out—even if I’m on a ship in the middle of the ocean or on another continent.

“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. I’m thankful for a career spent working with educational champions as they shape the leaders of the future.”

Overview

Providing outstanding counsel to school districts, superintendents, and boards, Peter Fagen guides clients in district leadership and governance, labor relations, mediations, education technology, artificial intelligence, data privacy concerns and elections and voting rights issues. He also performs fact-finding inquiries in advance of strikes and advises on personnel and student problems, business matters, and redevelopment projects.

When clients must grapple with tense personality conflicts, problems with the job performance of board leaders, deadlocked negotiations, and other similarly fraught circumstances, they put their confidence in Peter and his proclivity for problem-solving. Adept at diffusing the emotions of people who are unhappy with each other, he diplomatically guides them to find common ground and start to work together. This helps them steer their organizations in positive directions. He also applies his knowledge and legal skills to school district elections and voting rights issues, as well as education technology, artificial intelligence and related data privacy matters.

Peter combines his significant leadership, business, and administrative skills to provide efficient and effective education legal counsel. As chair of the firm’s Next Level Client Services Group, he conducts workshops on internal board relations, board-superintendent relations, goal setting, and leadership for school district administrators and board members. Districts regard him as a trusted advisor and rely upon his decades of experience and highly informed guidance.

Highly regarded across the country for his education law prowess, Peter is a frequent and sought after speaker at education and legal conferences and seminars and helps lead many prominent school administrative associations and organizations. A strong believer that the growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership, he is thankful for a career working with educational champions as they shape the young people who will in turn shape the future.

Experience Highlights

Professional Affiliations

  • Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
  • Member of Who’s Who in American Law
  • Member of the NSBA Federal Relations Network, which affords him the opportunity to meet annually with national leaders on education issues
  • Past President of the California Council of School Attorneys
  • Leadership Committee Member of the California Association of School Business Officials

Involvement

Community Affiliations

  • Member of the National Registry of Who’s Who
  • Member of the International Who’s Who of Professionals
  • Chairman of the Board of SAGE Global (Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship), an international organization promoting student entrepreneurs around the world
  • Board Member - Classroom of the Future Foundation - 2022 - Present
  • Board Member - North San Diego County Promise - 2014 - Present
  • Distinguished Alumni - University of Northern Iowa - College of Social Sciences

 

After School

I’m an enthusiastic traveler who enjoys meeting people all over the world and getting to know their cultures. I’ve been fortunate to have visited all seven continents and all 50 states, and I chair the board of SAGE Global, an international organization promoting student entrepreneurs around the world. I love sports and attend college and professional events wherever we happen to be. My wife and I also regularly participate in events connected with our church and our alma mater, the University of Iowa.

Education

  • University of Iowa College of Law (J.D.)
  • University of Northern Iowa (B.A.)

Admissions

Bar Admissions
  • California
  • Iowa
  • Missouri
Court Admissions
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Central District, California
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District, California
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District, California
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District, California
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District, Iowa
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District, Iowa
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District, Missouri
  • U.S. District Court, Western District, Missouri

Related Services

  • Communications & Media Relations
  • Education Technology
  • Governance & Leadership
  • Government Affairs & Public Policy
  • School & College Athletics
  • Investigations
  • Labor Relations & Negotiations
  • Next Level Client Services
  • Title IX
  • Business
  • Employment Law
  • Litigation
  • Special Education

Related Clients

  • Public Education K-12
  • Community Colleges
  • Higher Education
  • Religious & Parochial Schools
  • Public Agencies
  • Charter Schools
  • Independent & Private Schools

Publications

  • "Elevated Dreams" The Iowan November/December 2017
  • State Voting Law Raises Complex Compliance Issues,” January 3, 2012 Daily Journal
  • “Win on Property Tax Funds is Validation for School Districts,” February 17, 2010 Daily Journal
  • “The Debate Over Emails as Education Records,” October 30, 2009 Daily Journal
  • “Will Labor Code Section 96(k) Affect Discipline Decisions in Public Employment?” California Labor & Employment Quarterly, Summer 2000
  • “Bilingual Education in California,” California Education, February/March 1998
  • “What to do When You Are Sued,” The Law Journal, September 1996

Presentations

  • Digital Media and Developing Minds International Scientific Congress, Washington, DC, presenter
  • North American Educational Negotiators, presenter
  • Education Law Association, presenter
  • Counsel of School Attorneys, presenter
  • National School Boards Association, presenter
  • California Council of School Attorneys, presenter
  • Association of California School Administrators - Superintendents Symposium, presenter
  • California School Boards Association, presenter
  • Association of California School Administrators – Negotiators Symposium, presenter
  • Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) Annual Convention, presenter
  • School Administrators of Iowa (SAI) Annual Conference, presenter
  • Community Colleges for Iowa Trustee Conference, presenter
  • Heartland Area Education Agency – Superintendents Council, presenter
  • Missouri School Boards’ Association Annual Conference, AI Symposium, presenter
  • EdSurge Protecting Student Data and Privacy Panel, Austin, Texas, presenter
  • South Dakota School Administrators Association, presenter
  • Kentucky School Administrators Association - University of Kentucky School of Education, presenter

Peter's Insights & News

  1. Viewpoints
    Teacher’s Union Contract with Microsoft Aims to Regulate AI in Schools
    Sep 11, 2026
    2 minute read
  2. Announcements
    Melissa Brown Joins F3 Law, Expanding Our Reach in Kern County and the broader Central Valley
    Sep 08, 2026
    2 minute read
  3. Viewpoints
    A Changing Federal Standard for Race-Conscious Programs in Private Education
    Sep 04, 2026
    1 minute read
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