Team Members

EducationCounsel LLC, led by former U.S. Department of Education officials, provides core legal and policy services in support of our efforts in national seminars and through written guidance for higher education institutions.


Arthur L. "Art" Coleman

Managing Partner and Co-Founder, EducationCounsel LLC

Arthur L. "Art" Coleman is a managing partner and co-founder of EducationCounsel LLC. With extensive background in providing legal, policy, strategic planning and advocacy services to educators throughout the country, Mr. Coleman focuses on issues related to 21st-century education reform efforts, including those focused on college- and career-ready policies and on pipeline issues that address key questions of equal access and educational diversity.

Mr. Coleman’s work centers on:

  • The development of K–20 assessment, accountability and accreditation policies, including a focus on test design and test use issues;

  • The development of higher education student enrollment (e.g., financial aid, admission and recruitment policies) and faculty hiring policies designed to enhance access and the educational benefits of diversity; and

  • The design and implementation of strategies to support not-for-profit organizations that seek to align their educationally focused goals and strategies with national, federal, and state 21st-century policy agendas and reform efforts.

He is a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (effective Dec. 2009); the National Association of College and University Attorneys; and the National School Boards Association Council of School Attorneys. He is a former member of the Advisory Board for the Alliance for Excellent Education.


Scott R. Palmer

Managing Partner and Co-Founder, EducationCounsel LLC

Mr. Palmer provides legal, policy, strategic planning and advocacy services to education leaders across the country. Mr. Palmer’s focus is on policy change and preventive law — helping states, school districts, higher education institutions, private education providers and education associations understand how to structure their policies in ways that best serve their educational goals and meet federal and state legal requirements, thereby improving education while reducing the risk of litigation or enforcement.

He also focuses on federal advocacy before the United States Department of Education and Congress on key education issues. Mr. Palmer works on issues such as the No Child Left Behind Act, accountability, standards and assessment, services for English language learners, services for students with disabilities, and diversity programs. Mr. Palmer served until January 2001 in the Clinton Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). In that capacity, Mr. Palmer was responsible for the development of civil rights legal policy in education, including the promulgation of regulations and policy guidance on issues such as high-stakes testing, resource equity/adequacy and affirmative action. Mr. Palmer previously served as a legal and policy advisor with the President’s Initiative on Race in the White House, where he was responsible for education and civil rights issues. Mr. Palmer speaks regularly on education, legal and policy matters, and has published numerous articles on issues such as the proper use of tests and the value of diversity in education. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has taught education law and policy.

He is a prior vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Public Education Committee of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section. He is a Senior Legal Fellow of the Harvard University Civil Rights Project and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2007–2008 editions). He earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. He earned a Master of Arts in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, from the University of Maryland.


Richard W. Riley

Senior Partner, EducationCounsel LLC

The Christian Science Monitor said that many Americans regard Dick Riley as “one of the great statesmen of education in this (20th) century.” David Broder, a highly acclaimed national columnist, called him one of the “most decent and honorable people in public life.” In 2009, Time magazine named him one of America’s “Top 10 Best Cabinet Members.” And when Riley was governor, he was so popular that the people amended the South Carolina Constitution to enable him to run for a second term.

Wherever he goes, Richard Wilson Riley — former U. S. Secretary of Education and former Governor of South Carolina — wins respect for his integrity, principled leadership, commitment to children and passion for high-quality education.

After winning national recognition for his successful education improvements in South Carolina during the 1980s, Riley was chosen by President Clinton in December 1992 to serve in his Cabinet as the nation’s chief education officer. During the President’s first term, Secretary Riley helped launch historic initiatives to raise academic standards; improve instruction for the poor and disadvantaged; expand grant and loan programs to help more Americans go to college; prepare young people for the world of work; and improve teaching. He also created the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, which included more than 8,000 groups.

Riley gets things done by reaching out to all citizens. He prefers partnership to partisanship. Of his quiet, self-effacing style, the National Journal wrote, “He doesn’t grab headlines or clamor for credit. ... But, inevitably, Riley reaches his goal.”

Riley was so successful that, after the 1996 election, President Clinton asked him to continue leading his national crusade for excellence in education. During the second term, Secretary Riley helped win a historic F.C.C. ruling to give schools and libraries deep discounts for Internet access and telecommunications services (the E-rate) and major improvements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. He gained increased federal support to help all children master the basics of reading and math; make schools safer; reduce class size in grades 1–3 by hiring 100,000 more quality teachers; modernize and build new schools to meet record-breaking student enrollments; help students learn to use computers; expand after-school programs; foster college preparation and access for underprivileged students; make postsecondary education more affordable; and promote lifelong learning. Riley also focused national attention on the need for people of all ages in America to learn more than one language and for increased international education exchanges in the United States and abroad in order to take advantage of the opportunities presented in the global society of the 21st century.

Since leaving his national post in January 2001, Riley has rejoined the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough with more than 400 attorneys in offices throughout South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Tallahassee; Huntington, West Virginia; and Washington, D.C. He also is a Senior Partner in EducationCounsel, a wholly owned subsidiary of the law firm.

Dick Riley was born in Greenville County, South Carolina. He graduated cum laude from Furman University in 1954 and then served as an officer aboard a U.S. Navy minesweeper. In 1959, Riley received a law degree from the University of South Carolina. He served as a South Carolina state representative and state senator from 1963–1977, was elected Governor in 1978 and reelected in 1982. Riley and his wife (now deceased), the former Ann Osteen Yarborough, affectionately known by all as Tunky Riley, have four children and 13 grandchildren.

Steven Yale Winnick

Counsel, EducationCounsel LLC

Steve Winnick practices in the area of education law and policy with EducationCounsel LLC, an affiliate of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. He is experienced in federal education law and policy, particularly at the elementary and secondary levels, and in the civil rights area, as well as in the federal ethics area. Mr. Winnick’s goal is to help states and school districts leverage federal law to meet their educational goals and avoid compliance problems. He also engages in advocacy before the United States Department of Education.

Mr. Winnick focuses on issues related to the No Child Left Behind Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as well as administrative laws and regulations that impact federal education programs.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Winnick served as deputy general counsel and the designated agency ethics official of the U.S. Department of Education.

He was selected Best Boss in America for Working Moms by Redbook magazine in 1996. He also received the Justice Tom C. Clark Outstanding Lawyer Award from the Federal Bar Association in 1995 and the President’s Distinguished Federal Executive Award (the highest award conferred on civilian federal employees) in 1997 and 2003.

He earned his Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Yale University.


Jennifer Rippner

Senior Policy Advisor, EducationCounsel LLC

Jennifer Rippner serves as a senior policy advisor for EducationCounsel LLC, in affiliation with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. She has considerable experience in education issues from both the school administration and state government policy levels.

Before joining the firm, she served as executive director for the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, where she reported directly to the governor on pre-K through higher education accountability data. Ms. Rippner also served as an education policy advisor to Governor Sonny Perdue. In that capacity, she was responsible for developing and implementing statewide education programs, communicating Governor Perdue’s policies and accountability philosophy, and worked with legislators, educational leaders, and teachers. Before that, she was program manager for Charter Schools and Alternative Education at the Georgia Department of Education.

She is a former director of the Charter School Accountability Center at Florida State University’s College of Education, a center she opened and directed with a Florida Department of Education grant. Before that she was school director of Micanopy Area Cooperative School, a charter school in Micanopy, Fla. She also has worked as a teaching assistant.

She currently serves by Governor Perdue’s appointment as a board member of the Southern Regional Education Board. She also is one of 15 selected worldwide as a Global Policy Fellow by the Institute for Higher Education Policy for a two-year fellowship studying higher education access issues. The program is supported by the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. She was a member of the Georgia Alliance of Education Agency Heads and a former board member of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

She earned her Juris Doctorate in 2000 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Florida in the honors program in 1997. She currently is pursuing a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Georgia Institute of Higher Education.


Kate Lipper

Policy Advisor, EducationCounsel LLC

A former teacher in the Atlanta public schools, Ms. Lipper earned her Juris Doctorate, magna cum laude, in 2008 from Harvard Law School, where her course work concentrated on law and education, education policymaking and the courts, entrepreneurship in education reform, effective interventions for at-risk children, and child welfare, education and juvenile justice.

A former judicial clerk to the Honorable Norman H. Stahl, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, she also has served as a legal intern at the Center for Law and Education in Boston, the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, and the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor.

While at Harvard, Ms. Lipper served as an executive editor for solicited content for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review; was a research assistant on public education issues for Professor Martha Minow; and was an editor for the Civil Rights Project’s amicus brief for Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No 1. She also participated in clinical placements with both the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center and with the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock, United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts.

Ms. Lipper also attended Emory University School of Law as a Woodruff Fellow. She earned a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in English and History in 2003 from the University of Virginia.


Nina Salomon

Policy Advisor, EducationCounsel LLC

Nina Salomon serves as a policy advisor for EducationCounsel LLC, in affiliation with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. Ms. Salomon provides assistance to clients at state education agencies and other state-level entities to guide, support, and facilitate the process of policy change. She also works with various nationally and federally focused organizations to provide assistance in strategic planning and policy analysis.

A former associate at The Chicago Public Education Fund, she has experience managing human capital initiatives in partnership with Chicago Public Schools and ensuring they achieve performance benchmarks. She also has cultivated and maintained partnerships and relationships with Chicago Public School officials, local and national foundations, state and national education leaders, and policymakers.

Before that, she worked as a program associate for The Finance Project based in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit consulting organization working on charter school finance policy guides and materials, and a guide to financing and sustainability for mentoring programs. Prior, she worked in government relations for a national youth development organization and as an associate for the Migrant Head Start Technical Assistance Center.

She earned an M.S.Ed. in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in political science from The George Washington University. She is fluent in Spanish and Hebrew.

The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities and concerns.


Bradley J. Quin

Executive Director, Higher Education Advocacy and Special Initiatives, The College Board

Mr. Quin provides key higher education advocacy, research and project management for the purpose of advancing the College Board’s higher education advocacy initiatives on a national basis. He coordinates several important activities focused on Higher Education issues such as access, recruitment, outreach, admission and retention. He is also responsible for maintaining strategic relationships with institutions of higher education on issues related to the professional development of admission and financial aid officers. He also assists with special initiatives and projects in the Enrollment Division that support its relationships with its service users through their product array.

Mr. Quin joined the College Board in 1991 as the Senior Project Director for the New SAT® (1994) and subsequently managed the Admissions and Recruitment products and services unit and the technical support unit for the Enrollment Division prior to assuming his current responsibilities.

Prior to joining the College Board, Mr. Quin was Director of Admissions at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. In addition to his postsecondary experience, Mr. Quin was Director of Admissions and Financial Aid and was a college counselor at the Westtown School, a Quaker co-educational day and boarding school in suburban Philadelphia. Mr. Quin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Law from Lafayette College and a Master’s in Higher Education Administration from Lehigh University.