Education Lawyer Jonathan D. Tarnow Joins Drinker Biddle

WASHINGTON, DC  (February 4, 2004) - Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has added education lawyer Jonathan D. Tarnow in the firm’s Washington, DC office as a member of the Education Law Practice Group. His practice covers all aspects of the Higher Education Act, particularly Title IV student financial aid programs.

"We are delighted to add a highly accomplished education lawyer of Jonathan’s caliber to our Education Law Practice Group," said John R. Przypyszny, head of the Group. "Jonathan’s addition will help us immediately to provide our clients in the higher education sector with greater depth of experienced advice and counsel."

Jonathan Tarnow’s Title IV experience includes advising postsecondary institutions in challenges to Federal audit findings, program review determinations, and emergency and termination actions; negotiating settlements with the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of institutions of higher education; and lobbying Congress to enact targeted statutory changes to the Title IV programs. He counsels postsecondary institutions in a proactive manner to avoid non-compliance. He is also well versed in the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act, and has provided in-depth training to educational agencies and institutions on federal privacy requirements for student information. He has argued education cases in both administrative tribunals and the federal courts.

He is experienced in higher education administration and served for three years on the Board of Trustees of George Washington University. In that role, he was particularly active on the Information Technology and Infrastructure Committee and the Student Affairs Committee, and was a Trustee representative to the Academic Integrity Subcommittee of the University’s 1999 self-study for NCAA certification. He had previously served on the University’s steering committee for its accreditation self-study report.

Jonathan is currently a member of the Steering Committee for the D.C. Bar Administrative Law and Agency Practice Section. He chaired the section’s Education Law and Policy Committee from 1999-2002. He has also represented attorneys as appointed defense counsel in disciplinary proceedings before the D.C. Court of Appeals’ Board on Professional Responsibility.

He received his B.A. in Political Science in 1993 and his J.D. degree in 1996, both from George Washington University. As a law student, he clerked with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Hearings and Appeals and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Solicitor General. He is admitted to the local and Federal courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia, and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He has made presentations on Title IV compliance issues to the Career College Association and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). He has also written legal articles for Student Aid Transcript, the official quarterly magazine of NASFAA, and has been quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Drinker Biddle’s Education Law Group is focused on providing counsel to higher education institutions, accreditation agencies, education companies and members of the investment community active in the education area. The practice is particularly focused upon distance education initiatives. The Group offers a coordinated and cost-effective approach to all aspects of an education company’s or institution’s regulatory needs concerning the Department of Education, accreditation, and state licensure and regulation, as well as legislative and litigation representations.