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She has worked as an elementary school teacher in Georgia, earned her law degree from USC, served as South Carolina’s education superintendent and run for lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate.
These days, Inez Tenenbaum is returning to her legal roots — while keeping her hand in education.
The McNair Law Firm in Columbia — one of the state’s largest — announced Tuesday that Tenenbaum has joined its ranks.
The firm was founded by former S.C. Gov. Robert McNair, who died in November.
Tenenbaum, elected state education superintendent in 1998 and 2002, will handle financial matters, such as bond referendums for new construction or renovation projects, for client school districts.
She will work with two of the firm’s attorneys who specialize in that area — Frannie Heizer, a former Columbia city councilwoman, and Daniel McLeod.
“Once you’re in public education, it becomes your life’s mission,” Tenenbaum, 57, told The State newspaper. “I miss the children since I’ve been out of office. I miss the schools; I miss the teachers; I miss the school boards and administrators.”
Bill Youngblood, McNair’s managing partner, said his firm has plenty of work for Tenenbaum, noting the firm has represented about 60 of the state’s 85 school districts on financial issues in the past five years. That includes Lexington-Richland 5, which has a referendum on the November ballot proposing a $243.7 million bond issue to build new schools and renovate others.
Youngblood said Tenenbaum brings to the firm “intellect, a wonderful institutional memory about public education in its broadest sense, and an understanding of the levers of government.”
Heizer said Tenenbaum’s “legal background and policy background ... could not be a better fit.”
Tenenbaum will be “of counsel” with the firm, meaning she won’t be a full-time associate, though she pointed out she plans to spend a lot of time initially visiting school districts statewide and attending school conferences.
Besides her law firm job, she said she will continue to work as a consultant for the nonprofit Southwest Educational Development Laboratory and its subgroup the Southeast Comprehensive Center, which helps state departments of education, school districts and schools meet the goals under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
A longtime Democrat, Tenenbaum, who made unsuccessful bids for lieutenant governor in 1994 and the U.S. Senate in 2004, wouldn’t rule out a run for the governor’s seat in 2010, though she noted, “I’ve done no talking or planning or meeting.”
“That’s a long way off,” she said. “I’m really excited about (working at the McNair firm). It feels like I’ve come home. I’m going to focus on this.”
The McNair Law Firm has 135 attorneys in nine offices in South Carolina and North Carolina. Besides government affairs, the firm’s areas of practice include corporate, banking/finance, environmental, health care, immigration and intellectual property issues.
Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484.
