Seth N. Eckstein

With experience as a former educator and in-house counsel, Seth N. Eckstein is well-versed in school operations and takes a holistic approach as a general counsel and thought partner for clients.  He is committed to addressing issues promptly and proactively so that school district can execute on their mission to serve children.  Seth counsels clients on the full spectrum of labor and employment, human resource and governance and board-related issues as well as personnel investigations, business transactions and matters involving parcel taxes and the Brown Act. He also represents districts in workplace discrimination complaints, labor disputes and other claims.

Seth is particularly passionate about personnel issues because this work ultimately is about putting the best staff in front of students. He partners with human resource professionals to address complicated, fast-developing issues and help them provide the best learning environments. His goal is to help districts stay focused on their mission: providing the best environments to educate students. Sometimes that requires working with different departments and different administrators to always place children’s interest first.

Because of his experience teaching Mandarin Chinese at a public school in Boston and as in-house attorney with the Oakland Unified School District for more than six years, Seth recognizes how educators and school districts operate. He also knows clients frequently need responses to issues immediately so he makes himself available for delivering solutions quickly.

Clients appreciate Seth’s strong communication skills, responsiveness and ability to provide practical analysis and distill complex legal concepts into easily understood language. He understands that some school districts don’t have a lot of resources and takes that into consideration to offer cost-effective options to achieve optimal outcomes. No matter the circumstances, Seth considers it an honor to work shoulder-to-shoulder with public school professionals and serve as their “thought partner,” as he puts it.