Gust Rosenfeld is pleased to announce that Christopher (“Chris”) P. Thomas has joined the firm’s Education Law Group.

Chris concentrates his practice on education law. He represents schools, school districts and other educational organizations in all types of legal matters, including policy creation, compliance reviews, personnel matters, intergovernmental agreements, public records requests, and open meeting law compliance. He is adept on statewide K-12 legal aspects of board governance, including open meeting law, conflicts of interest, public contracting, public records law and Title 15.

Prior to joining Gust Rosenfeld, he was the General Counsel and Associate Executive Director for the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) from 2000-2021. He oversaw the team that created model policies for ASBA’s subscriber districts. He also advocated for the ASBA’s interests as part of their Governmental Relations Team.

Chris earned his J.D. from the University of Nebraska. He earned a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Arizona. In 2020, he was given the Chuck Essigs Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Association of School Business Officials, Friend of ASPAA Lifetime Achievment recognition by the Association of School Personnel Administrators Association, and Executive Citation Recognition from the Association for Career and Technical Education of Arizona.