Special needs lawyer in IEP meetings

[Anonymous]

If your child is starting at the school and you have already found out about serious issues due to lack of IEP implementation (concerning safety), would you bring a special needs lawyer in IEP meetings? Unfortunately, playing "nice" doesn't seem to be working and I just want them to know that we will not tolerate non-sense and that the IEP really needs to be followed as written. However, I also not want to alienate the teachers or other staff. Any recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Advocate. If you bring a lawyer then the county has to bring one. It will not be friendly when that happens. A good advocate is the perfect solution.

[Anonymous]

Get an advocate that also taught in your child's county. They will know 'teacher-speak' to not overly alienate anybody and know the correct procedures for the county. What county are you in?

[Anonymous]

OP - FCPS. This issue was really serious, my child could have have died and I am not exaggerating. I am not interested in a law suite but I want to make sure that they know that I take this seriously.

[Anonymous]

Someone just mentioned Liz Capone in another thread for FCPS. I will link it.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1013657.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Advocate. If you bring a lawyer then the county has to bring one. It will not be friendly when that happens. A good advocate is the perfect solution.

Not really true. I know it’s a common misconception, including by school staff, but it simply isn’t true. Parents are under no obligation to tell the school that they are bringing a lawyer, and the IEP team can't refuse to meet because the parent unexpectedly brought a lawyer.

The rules only go the other way. The school can always bring a lawyer to an IEP meeting, but they have to provide prior notice.

[Anonymous]

I would think bringing a surprise lawyer to a meeting would be about the single most alienating thing you could do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - FCPS. This issue was really serious, my child could have have died and I am not exaggerating. I am not interested in a law suite but I want to make sure that they know that I take this seriously.

Bring a lawyer. When it comes to physical safety bring a lawyer. you tell them in advance and they bring their lawyer. I have not found this type of situation antagonistic at all. Having the lawyers there, as long as yours is not a hothead, keeps everyone level headed in a way. Given there are two authorities in the room, regulations and laws are clear so people can't exaggerate or lie if they violated them. But your purpose isn't a "gotcha." Your purpose seems to be to stop them from doing it again which is a positive way to look at things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Advocate. If you bring a lawyer then the county has to bring one. It will not be friendly when that happens. A good advocate is the perfect solution.

Not really true. I know it’s a common misconception, including by school staff, but it simply isn’t true. Parents are under no obligation to tell the school that they are bringing a lawyer, and the IEP team can't refuse to meet because the parent unexpectedly brought a lawyer.

The rules only go the other way. The school can always bring a lawyer to an IEP meeting, but they have to provide prior notice.

You don't have to tell them but it's polite if you do and will start things off on a more positive note.
The single most friendly meeting we had was when the lawyers got involved. If you choose someone who works regularly with the district they will already probably have a relationship with the district attorneys. Just make sure you pick one that fits your style and goals.

If you are going in trying to fight them you may want to bring in someone to set a more aggressive tone. That's not a bad thing. If you want to have someone there just to make a statement about the seriousness of what happened or might have happened you may want a different type of personality. We brought in someone who was known to be friendly with the district. We would never have hired him if we were going to due process but having him there was enough to make the school listen. He did not come in with a list of violations and he hardly talked but everyone knew we were there to avoid due process so we all had the same goals in mind. The district lawyer knew that we knew there had been violations although no one talked about that in the meeting.

[Anonymous]

For Fairfax I'd use Joan Proper as a lawyer. I have heard good things about Liz as an advocate, maybe talk to both and you can feel out what would be best for your situation. I think having a lawyer already contacted can only be a good thing because you can immediately escalate the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Advocate. If you bring a lawyer then the county has to bring one. It will not be friendly when that happens. A good advocate is the perfect solution.

Not really true. I know it’s a common misconception, including by school staff, but it simply isn’t true. Parents are under no obligation to tell the school that they are bringing a lawyer, and the IEP team can't refuse to meet because the parent unexpectedly brought a lawyer.

The rules only go the other way. The school can always bring a lawyer to an IEP meeting, but they have to provide prior notice.

You don't have to tell them but it's polite if you do and will start things off on a more positive note.
The single most friendly meeting we had was when the lawyers got involved. If you choose someone who works regularly with the district they will already probably have a relationship with the district attorneys. Just make sure you pick one that fits your style and goals.

If you are going in trying to fight them you may want to bring in someone to set a more aggressive tone. That's not a bad thing. If you want to have someone there just to make a statement about the seriousness of what happened or might have happened you may want a different type of personality. We brought in someone who was known to be friendly with the district. We would never have hired him if we were going to due process but having him there was enough to make the school listen. He did not come in with a list of violations and he hardly talked but everyone knew we were there to avoid due process so we all had the same goals in mind. The district lawyer knew that we knew there had been violations although no one talked about that in the meeting.

That’s fair. I have a hard time imagining a scenario where I’d want to bring in a lawyer unless I specifically intended to go down the due process path. An advocate, maybe, but not a lawyer. To your point, it might be beneficial as a way of sending a strong signal that you know you could prevail in the legal channels, but it seems like an awfully expensive way to send that message.

[Anonymous]

Several years ago, the school district brought a surprise attorney without informing us prior to the meeting. Our advocate advised us to walk away and reconvene once we had our own counsel. We also had the experience of notifying the school district that we would bringing counsel well in advance of the meeting and there was no attorney brought by the school district. I am not sure either of these types of situations happen often, so we always prepare for the unexpected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several years ago, the school district brought a surprise attorney without informing us prior to the meeting. Our advocate advised us to walk away and reconvene once we had our own counsel. We also had the experience of notifying the school district that we would bringing counsel well in advance of the meeting and there was no attorney brought by the school district. I am not sure either of these types of situations happen often, so we always prepare for the unexpected.

Isn’t bring a lawyer without nothing enough on its own to trigger a due process hearing since they essentially cancelled the meeting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would think bringing a surprise lawyer to a meeting would be about the single most alienating thing you could do.

I would think step 1 would be to place a tape recorder on the table.

[Anonymous]

We hired a law firm our local screening meeting and IEP eligibility after we went through the process before when FCPS indicated there was insufficient evidence for an evaluation. The school did not bring a lawyer to the meeting. We did give them advance notice that we were working with lawyer advocate who would be attending the meeting. I think it is a terrible idea to "surprise" the school with this. I wouldn't want them to do that to me.