What happens when you contact us?
Contacting a lawyer can be intimidating. You may think you'll be entering into a battle against your child's school that you're not ready for. Maybe you don't want to be dragged into a courtroom, or you're concerned about how long this will all take. Don't worry, we're here to guide you along every step of the way.
Before we meet
The first thing we'll need to know when you call or email is why you're contacting us. Most of the time, it's because you think your child isn't receiving the services they should be or isn't making the progress they're capable of. Usually, you provide this information in the consultation request.
In addition to hearing your concerns as a parent, we need to take an objective look at your child's educational records, so that we can evaluate the evidence the same way the judge would. This includes reviewing any IEPs or evaluations from at least the last three years. We often do this before we meet for our consultation call so that we can understand your child's needs and have a detailed discussion about the strength of your case and what potential options you may have.
The Record Review
When we get the records, we'll review each document to spot evidence of wrongdoing. We'll look at how often the student has been evaluated, whether the evaluations were comprehensive, whether there is evidence of progress, what kinds of services the District is providing, and much more.
We'll likely set up some time to speak with you over the phone to get some additional information in case there is something that may be missing from the documents or maybe some recent developments that would not be a part of the record yet.
Ultimately, we make a determination about whether we think there is a strong case here.
The Meeting
If we think there is a strong case, we'll meet with you to discuss what we saw, what we can do, and the next steps. We'll get any necessary paperwork signed and then we can begin to get started. This can be done over telephone or video call.
At this point, we may get additional details from you that will help in our next step, drafting the impartial hearing request, otherwise known as the due process complaint.
We'll also discuss what we think we can do for your child. It can sometimes be compensatory services, new evaluations, a new school placement or a private placement. Sometimes, maybe the only relief you're looking for is something like faster transportation or a 1:1 paraprofessional, we can do those things as well.
Drafting the Documents
There are a number of documents that may be drafted as a first step. We might need to put together a request for independent evaluations, if we believe your child hasn't been appropriately evaluated. We may prepare a Ten Day Letter, which is a notice to the school district before your child is placed in a private program. We may submit a record request to the school to gather more evidence.
Most importantly, we'll draft the due process complaint, also known as the impartial hearing request, which is a document where we put the school district on notice of the issues in your child's case and submit a request for the relief that your child needs. This could include compensatory services, new evaluations, a different public school placement, or a private program. Sometimes, the relief you're looking for might be something like transportation accommodations or adding a paraprofessional to the IEP.
Before anything is sent out or filed on your behalf, you will have the opportunity to review it, discuss it with us, and ask any questions.
Resolution Meeting &
Pre-Hearing Conferences
Once the due process complaint is filed, we wait for a judge, known as the "impartial hearing officer" (IHO) to be assigned to your case. This is usually done within two business days.
The first 30 days after the due process complaint is filed is called the "resolution period." During this time, the school district is supposed to schedule a meeting with you (over telephone) to see if they can resolve the complaint without going to the IHO. In the majority of our cases, the resolution offer does not satisfy the reason we filed the complaint, so we proceed with the hearing process.
The IHO's first step is scheduling a pre-hearing conference, where we explain the basic facts of the fact to the IHO and summarize what we're looking for. The IHO sets expectations for the hearing and we select a hearing date. Parents are not required to attend the pre-hearing conference.
Preparing for the Hearing
Once we have a hearing date, we’ll meet with you to discuss whether you’ll need to testify. If so, we’ll make sure you’re well prepared. We’ll also prepare other witnesses we may need to prove our case at hearing, such as private school teachers or independent evaluators.
Most IHOs allow witnesses to provide their testimony in writing through a document known as an affidavit. An affidavit is a legal document where a witness is able to share helpful details for the case without having to be questioned during the hearing by their lawyer. We work together with you to draft your affidavit, and we prepare you for any questions that you might be asked at hearing about the affidavit, known as cross-examination questions.
We also review our document evidence and put together a packet of the documents that we’d like to share with the IHO in support of our case. These documents are often referred to as our “disclosure” and are due 5 business days before the hearing. The school district can prepare their own disclosure and share it with us 5 business days in advance as well.
The Hearing
The hearing is an informal trial, where we get to present our arguments and evidence to the IHO. Hearings are conducted via a video conference and are recorded by a court reporter, who types up a transcript of everything that’s said.
The hearing will be attended by the parent, the parent’s attorney, the school district’s attorney, the IHO and the court reporter. Any additional witnesses will call in as needed. At the start of the hearing, everyone present will introduce themselves. After this, we’ll make all statements and arguments on your behalf, so you won’t have to say anything else unless you’re directly asked a question.
Next, we go through the document evidence. Each side lists each document they want to submit as evidence. It’s possible that both sides will have objections to which documents should be allowed in, and the IHO has the final say.
After document evidence is admitted, both sides give an opening statement, which summarizes what the problem is, what we intend to prove with our evidence, and what we’ll be asking for.
Then we move on to witness testimony. If the school district brings a witness, we listen to their testimony while their attorney is questioning them (or we review the affidavit if the testimony is submitted in writing), and then we get the chance to ask cross-examination questions about their testimony. Through the cross-examination, we may try to show that the witness isn't credible, doesn't have the necessary information, or maybe get additional information out of that witness that is harmful to the District's case. There may be other goals in cross-examination as well. It will depend on the underlying facts of each individual case. After the school district’s witnesses, we submit the testimony from our witnesses. The school district’s attorney gets to ask questions the same way that we were able to question their witnesses.
Closing Briefs or Statements
When both sides finished presenting evidence and witnesses, it's time for closing statements. Sometimes, both sides will make a short speech right then and there and that would be it.
Other times, each side may ask to submit a closing "brief." This is a written statement which will point to all the various pieces of evidence and explain why the judge should rule in their favor.
Sometimes, a closing brief is preferable if the case was very long or relies on very specific arguments. If a closing brief is requested, it's normally 2-4 weeks of time to prepare the brief and submit it.
After the closing statements are made or the closing brief is submitted, the judge takes some time to write a decision. Even if the case was not contested and was very straightforward, it can sometimes take around 30 days for a judge to write their decision. They are usually lengthy and detailed.
Implementation
Once we get a decision, we'll go over it together and we'll explain everything the judge ordered and anything the judge may not have ordered. If we disagree with something in the decision, we'll talk about how we can do an appeal to a higher judge.
We'll also begin trying to implement the judge's order. For example, the judge may have ordered 200 hours of tutoring. We will put you in touch with tutors who are willing to provide services from a judge's order and make sure the services begin. Or, the judge may have ordered a new IEP meeting, we'll help you get that scheduled as well. No matter what the judge orders, we're going to help make sure you're able to utilize it before we close your case.
We'll also discuss whether we need to be ready for next year's case. Sometimes, one case is all you need. Maybe the District put your child in a new school and you love it, or maybe you just wanted some changes to the IEP and the judge ordered it. However, other times, we'll have to repeat the process each year to make sure the District is providing the right services.
That's it! It's a long process, but one that is constantly moving along.
Keep in mind that every case is different. Sometimes, there are steps that take place in between these steps. For example, we might need to have a mini-hearing known as an "IEE hearing" just to try to get independent evaluations before we even schedule our final hearing.
We will go over what will likely happen in your case after our initial record review, and we'll answer all your questions throughout the process. However, the first step is always contacting us so we can take a look at your individual circumstances and figure out the best plan of action!