The primary aim of this set of services is to help those parents who have done all they could within the system. You’ve attended numerous CSE meetings. You’ve had independent evaluations done. You’ve hire an advocate. You may have even gone to the New York State Department of Education for help. But you still have not been able to get your child the special education services that the child needs. You may now have to consider going to the next step: court. We can help.

Although our primary aim is to provide litigation services, we can help with special education issues in other ways. We can review your child’s education file, and provide you with a plan on how to obtain the services you believe your child needs. We will even will even attend CSE meetings with you. When we get involved at this stage, however, we are thinking differently than an advocate. An advocate is concerned with identifying appropriate services. We are concerned with developing the case so that, if we have to go to court, we’ve maximized the likelihood of success in court.

The special education laws provide for attorney’s fees, but only for that part of the matter involving litigation. This means that we need to charge for pre-litigation services. Whether pre-litigation, or litigation, initial telephone consultations are free. The initial office consultation is a file review. Pre-litigation, the fee is $200. At the litigation stage, there is no charge for the initial office consultation. If the case is developed enough, and depending on the issues raised in the case, we might be able to take the case to court on a straight or partial contingent basis. In pre-litigation matters, we can charge on an hourly basis, or on a flat fee for each service provided. We can negotiate a comprehensive flat rate for all pre-litigation services..