Special Ed attorney for due process?

Question

I may need a special ed attorney to go due process, but what if I cannot afford one?

Answer 1

Every state has a free advocacy agency. Call your state dept of education and ask for the 'federally funded special education parent advocacy agency'.

They help parents for free.

A lawyer will not take your case unless you have followed the IDEA laws and done everything you are suppose to do to settle the situation, and the school will not do right even after all you have done.

A lawyer will tell you to first follow IDEA law and do what it says, and THEN call him IF the school doesnt' do right after that.

Mediation in some states is useless. In GA, mediation is 'voluntary' on both sides. If a school is really bad they will not volunteer and you will get nowhere.

Also in GA, the mediation is led by a mediator who does not order the school or parent to do anything, they only help both parties come to a decision.

This should have been done in an IEP meeting, and this type of mediation is no different.

Answer 2

Some Lawyers do it on the stipulation that they keep part of any monetery settlement if they win. if the don't? Oh well.

Answer 3

your district should be required to reimburse you if you win--ask a lawyer to give you a no win=no fee agreement

Answer 4

The website Wrightslaw may be able to refer you to lawyers or you may want to sign up for one of those lawyer programs where you pay a montly retainer fee of $30 or less and get so many legal hours for free.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

When you cannot get what you need from the school system, usually the next step is mediation. Contact the special education office at the state level, see what you can accomplish from there. It has been my experience that the state department contacts the school and tells us what we need to do to correct the situation. It rarely turns into an expensive lawsuit.

However, if it comes down to that, true, knowledgeable special ed attorneys are few and far between, but they will know how to get the school system to pay the costs if they win. In which case, the attorney will let you know up front if there is a chance at winning.

Answer 6

they can usually work out some kind of payment arrangement to make it easier on you

Answer 7

First let me ask  - are you really so far that you need a lawyer?  There are many advocacy groups that can help you through several levels of due process and those are levels you have to go to before you can litigate anyway.

If you have gone through all the levels and were using an advocacy group - ask them to assist you in finding someone before you retain an attorney for something that may be easily remedied.

I see so many parents that rush to litigate when really sitting down and identifying what the issue is - where there is agreement already and what needs to happen next - would go a long way to provide what your child needs.

Many times I see that schools are not the enemy but sometimes the jargon and language we use is unclear.