Back to Search Results

Advocating for Special Education Clients

Provided By: CLECenter.com

Approved for CLE credit in: AK, AZ, CA, IL, KY, ME, MO, ND, NJ, NY, TX, WV

Advocating for families seeking educational services for children with disabilities is an active and growing field, especially as diagnoses for conditions such as autism rise sharply. While litigation over broader rights is handled through impact cases, such as those brought by the Berkeley-based nonprofit Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Inc. and federally funded Disability Rights California, most individuals are represented by private attorneys or attorneys and non-attorney professionals at nonprofit agencies. This program provides an overview of the practice, including the laws governing the practice, the client base, the IEP process, typical cases, and how to obtain attorneys fees in such cases.

This program was recorded in San Francisco on March 19, 2010.

Click on the state abbreviation to find the CLE Credit Information for your state.

This program is has been approved for credit in AK, AZ, CA, IL, KY, ME, MO, ND, NJ, NY, TX, WV

No related programs information available.

Larisa M. Cummings Attorney Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF) Berkeley, California Larisa M. Cummings is a staff attorney with Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF) in Berkeley. She has served as a Clients' Rights Advocate for persons with developmental disabilities at the Regional Center of the East Bay, and has extensive experience representing individuals with disabilities and their families in special education and public benefits administrative appeals, as well as helping to secure privacy rights of individuals with disabilities in social service systems and community-based service settings. At DREDF, she now focuses on impact litigation to protect and further the civil rights of persons with disabilities.

Stephen Rosenbaum Attorney National Disability Rights Network California Stephen Rosenbaum is a staff attorney with an affiliate of the National Disability Rights Network. Stephen specializes in the rights of students with disabilities and institutionalized persons. He served as a staff attorney with Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and California Rural Legal Assistance, where he litigated impact cases in federal and state court on behalf of immigrants and persons with disabilities. He has also represented many individuals in mediation and administrative hearings. Steve is a lecturer in law at his alma mater, UC Berkeley Boalt Hall (mental health law, social justice skills, civil rights litigation and Spanish for lawyers) and also teaches disability rights at Stanford Law School, and a youth law course at Golden Gate Law School. Since 2003, Steve has served as a trainer at the Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates (COPAA) annual conferences. Stephen is also the father of a young man with intellectual and physical disabilities who is a regional center client.

Mara Rosen Attorney San Francisco, California Mara Rosen is a San Francisco attorney in private practice representing families and children with disabilities. In addition to special education cases, Mara also handles conservatorships. She has worked with the San Francisco Bar Association's Volunteer Legal Services Program, helping families obtain SSI (Supplemental Security Income) for children with disabilities. Mara also has a master¿s degree in social work, and worked with the disabled for 30 years as a counselor, social worker, and lawyer.

Susan Kostal Freelance Journalist San Francisco, California Moderator Susan Kostal is a freelance journalist who has covered legal affairs for more than 20 years. She has been a reporter and editor at the Daily Journal, and done writing and editing for California Lawyer Magazine. Her work has also appeared in the ABA Journal, San Francisco Attorney Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, and the Palo Alto Weekly. She also served as the legal editor at Caring.com. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her writing, reporting, and editing. She assisted with the conception and reporting of "Innocence Lost," a San Francisco Magazine feature nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2004,and her piece, "The Brobeck Mutiny," won a Bronze Award for reporting from the City and Regional Magazine Awards in 2003. She has worked with ALM producing audio and video CLE roundtable programs since 2005.

Advocating for Special Education Clients

Back to Search Results