The Public Interest Law Center, which is based in Philadelphia, recently started a project focused on helping students with disabilities access transition services. According to the Center: The project provides limited legal representation, legal advice and know-your-rights education to families/caregivers of students ages 14-21 who receive special education about the student’s right to have transition [...]
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) is a federal law that was passed in 1975 in order to aid the nation’s students with physical and mental disabilities. The IDEA guarantees students access to special education; it is the nation's banner special education law. Finding that “[i]mproving educational results for children with disabilities is [...]
Question: I suspect my child's IEP may not be appropriate, but I am not an expert. I want to keep up good relations with my child’s school because I have 2 other children, but my friends tell me to hire an attorney or an advocate. What consequences should I expect if I decide to fight [...]
On October 23, 2017, David J. Berney argued before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a parent of a student with special needs. Berney sought to reverse the lower court, which denied the parent reimbursement for her attorney's fees and costs after she won private school tuition, one-on-one instruction, and pendency at [...]
Students receiving special education services during the regular school year may be entitled to special education services during the summer. School districts must provide eligible students "Extended School Year" (ESY) services, which is comparable to summer school. The purpose of ESY is to help students retain what they have learned during the school year. However, [...]
Philadelphia's education newspaper, The Notebook, has published an article examining a recent appeals court decision ruling in favor of a group of special education students represented by Berney & Sang. The decision, H.E. v. Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School, can be accessed here. And The Notebook article is available here.
This article was originally published in The Legal Intelligencer on October 16, 2017. Fee shifting is critical to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA promises all children with disabilities a free and appropriate public education, but absent the IDEA’s fee-shifting provision, many parents would be unable to enforce that promise. Parents raising [...]
Searching and applying for jobs is stressful for everyone, but for jobseekers with a criminal history, worrying about whether that will be used against them can make the process even more overwhelming. Unfortunately, statistics do show that it is still more difficult for those with criminal histories to find employment than for those with clean [...]
Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a precedential opinion awarding relief to a group of special education students represented by Berney & Sang. The opinion secures important procedural rights for students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The court's opinion, H.E. v. Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School, can be [...]
This article was originally published in The Legal Intelligencer on July 3, 2017. M.M. grew up in an inner-city neighborhood in Boston. While in utero, M.M. experienced fetal distress while exposed to crack cocaine. As an adolescent, his mother was repeatedly incarcerated due to drug use. Because M.M. never knew his father, he transitioned in [...]
