Ratliff Jackson LLP offers legal counsel for Volunteer Fire and EMS providers. We provide proactive guidance on compliance, governance, risk management, labor and employment contracts and operational matters. Ratliff Jackson LLP helps these organizations prevent legal problems, operate efficiently, and protect the organization, its leadership and its members.
Fire departments and EMS need legal counsel because the job comes with enough inherent risks. You need someone who has the expertise to handle the legal risks. Uh, there's a my rate of risk that can face your department from the governance, risk management, labor and employment contracts, and the operational side. So where we can come in and help is not as a reactive but as a proactive partner in managing those risks.
What type of legal risks do volunteer emergency service organizations face? Emergency service organizations face a wide range of risks. They can come from compliance with regulations, such as those from the state, NFPA, etc. Governance matters like your nonprofit status, your bylaws, your membership policies, and risk management. We all know that it's an inherently risky job with labor and employment challenges. It’s becoming especially common with more and more volunteer stations stepping out of the true volunteer model and into a combination model with paid roles. And in some situations, union matters arise.
How can a lawyer protect Fire & EMS departments from liability? Legal counsel can help protect your department from liability by serving as your proactive partner. We can come in and identify risks before they become problems, which may stem from documentation, training, bylaws, or policies.
The right time for a Fire/EMS organization to consult legal counsel is right now, before you have a problem. Too often, departments come to Ratliff Jackson LLP after the issue happened or a lawsuit was filed against them. At that point, it's late in the process and more costly. A proactive preventative method is cost-effective and provides better protection for your department, line officers, and members.
How does legal counsel assist with compliance and governance? Legal counsel can help with your compliance and governance by providing proactive guidance, redrafting, and helping with your documentation to ensure that when there is a problem, that it's been properly documented, the proper people were trained, and that it is documented in a manner that is defensible in court.
Can legal counsel draft or update Fire & EMS organization bylaws and SOPs? Yes, and in fact, that is something that the Ratliff Jackson Fire Services Practice Group specializes in. For most stations, the bylaws have been around for decades and emergency response organizations have changed a lot. So Attorney Kyle Adams will help you rewrite those documents to modernize and be ready for the modern fire response world.