Legal Services

The CLAS Legal Defense Fund is designed to protect a CLAS member when a Local Board, Alabama Trust for Boards of Education (ATBE), Alabama Educators Liability Trust Fund, or a National Association will not. It is established for the protection of CLAS members in job related matters.

CLAS Individual and Institutional members are immediately covered upon joining CLAS. CLAS Emeritus members retain their accumulated legal defense fund if continuous membership is maintained.

The CLAS Legal Defense Fund provides defense funds for claims excluded from coverage purchased by the member’s employing school board including but not limited to the Alabama Trust for Boards of Education’s General Liability/Errors and Omission Liability Fund, and the Alabama Educators Liability Trust Fund, as specified in the agreement. Funds are provided under the agreement for defense of any such claims brought against the CLAS member separately from her/his Board of Education.

This Legal Defense Fund provides participation from the date that funds are received by CLAS for a covered membership in the organization until such time as the membership lapses.

First Year Covered Membership

$5,000

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Second Year Covered Membership

$10,000

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Third Year Continuous Covered Membership

$15,000

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Fourth Year and Every Year Thereafter Continuous Coverage

$20,000

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Single Claim Maximum

$20,000

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Lifetime Maximum Member Benefits

$25,000

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CLAS Annual Aggregate on All Claims

$250,000

This agreement pays for legal defense, using legal counsel approved by the CLAS Executive Director, for claims brought against a member, while acting within the line and scope of his/her duties as a school board employee. The defense is independent of the Alabama Educators Liability Trust Fund or the member’s employing Board of Education for incidents excluded from coverage purchased by the member’s Board of Education and listed below:

Professional Defense

• Any charge to include a criminal charge brought against a member while acting within the line and scope of his/her duties as a school board employee
• Any claim arising from the unintentional violation of Board policy by a member
• Any claim arising from any interscholastic athletic activity or any cheerleading activity
• Any claim arising from bodily injury or personal injury, sustained by an employee Any claim of a violation of Alabama’s Ethics law
• Any claim arising out of the ownership, operation, use, loading or unloading of any vehicle

Job Protection Legal Defense

• Attorney’s fees associated with due process of law in connection with employment-related problems
• Attorney’s fees for job-related matters such as breach of contract, certification disputes, termination or non-renewal, demotion, transfer, suspension or loss of salary

As a CLAS member, you are also eligible to receive the following legal services:

• Sample Contracts
• Legal Counsel for Administrators
• Contract Review Services
• Salary Comparisons
• Administrative Support in Lieu of an Attorney When Deemed Appropriate by the Executive Director

Your legal defense fund covers any criminal charge brought against a member while acting within the line and scope of his/her duties as a school board employee. The Alabama Educators Liability Trust Fund and The Alabama Trust for Boards of Education (ATBE) does NOT cover this.

State Associations do NOT provide liability insurance to members. However, CLAS members receive liability insurance from the Alabama Educators Liability Trust Fund and may elect to join the following national affiliates which carry at least $1 million of liability insurance specifically designed for school administrators: NAESP, NASSP, and AASA.

Should you need access to your legal defense fund or other legal services, contact the CLAS office at (800) 239-3616.

Exclusions are:

• The member's school board is named as a co-defendant
• Any legal action seeking damages other than the recovery of salary or benefits due to the member.

You may download the following sample contracts:

• Probationary Principal Contract
• Sample Three-Year Principal Contract
• Recommended Optional Contract Clauses

Contact the CLAS office at (800) 239-3616.