Due Process MCPS - Attorney recommendations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brian Gruber or Michael Eig. I have used both. I think I would preference Eig. Although I know other people who have had success with Gruber. Gruber will charge $$ to evaluate your case. Eig does not, i.e. he will listen to your case for free and then decide if (you have a case and) he wants to take you as a client. So, no harm shopping around. I also thought the woman, Paula, at Eig's practice was also good (and perhaps she charges less than Eig?)

Good to know! thank you.

[Anonymous]

I think you will find people who like one over the other. My preference is for Gruber. He got the job done for us.

[Anonymous]

Paula is also excellent, and yes, bills at a slightly lower rate than Eig.

[Anonymous]

What are the costs? The counselor's job at our MCPS school is clearly to warn parents that legal action will cost the 40K and parents usually never win regardless of the facts of the case.

[Anonymous]

IF you have a solid case, you can win and it doesn't have to be too expensive, It just depends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the costs? The counselor's job at our MCPS school is clearly to warn parents that legal action will cost the 40K and parents usually never win regardless of the facts of the case.

Eig won't take a case he doesn't think he can win, and he'll cap the fees. He capped ours at $15k, he's confident he can get the school system to reimburse all of it - both our $15k and anything he's out of pocket on top of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the costs? The counselor's job at our MCPS school is clearly to warn parents that legal action will cost the 40K and parents usually never win regardless of the facts of the case.

like I believe ANYTHING a low payed public school counselor has to say....that is a scare tactic

[Anonymous]

Fyi often individual lawyers have specific psychologists and educational experts they like to work with and can recommend them to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fyi often individual lawyers have specific psychologists and educational experts they like to work with and can recommend them to you.

OP here - just want to understand your statement. Are you saying that before we seek private psychological testing that we should first talk to an attorney to see who they suggest we work with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the costs? The counselor's job at our MCPS school is clearly to warn parents that legal action will cost the 40K and parents usually never win regardless of the facts of the case.

Write a nice email back to the counselor, restate her advice and thank her for her opinion. If her "advice" caused you to delay seeking counsel while you wondered if she was correct, be sure to include that you have been thinking about her advice for X number of weeks while you decide what to do next.

Make sure you CC the head of special education in your county on this email.

Telling you this is form of intimidation and is illegal under the law. Parents are not supposed to suffer retaliation or intimidation.

Also by documenting this, it helps your case if you decide to file. A judge won't look kindly on a system that intimidates parents into not seeking counsel.

[Anonymous]

^yes, to OP: probably a good,idea to consult with the lawyer first. (And many psychologist have waiting lists, etc).
Another well respected lawyer in this field is Wayne Steedman, of Callegary and Steedman.

[Anonymous]

I would get the school to perform the testing first and then request an independent evaluation if you disagree. The school system will more than likely pay for the evaluation.
Also have you formally requested that your child be tested for issues? You need to do this then the county is legally responsible to conduct meetings to get things going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I would get the school to perform the testing first and then request an independent evaluation if you disagree. The school system will more than likely pay for the evaluation.
Also have you formally requested that your child be tested for issues? You need to do this then the county is legally responsible to conduct meetings to get things going.

OP here - DS had formal, private testing done 6 years ago which we paid for. Has been on an IEP since then. School did their own testing for the purposes of the 3 yr IEP re-evaluation - that was 3 yrs ago. Their evaluation was weak at best.

I am certain that his first private evaluation did not uncover all of his LDs - very sure of it actually because he was way too young. This is why we need another evaluation.

Nothing is really seeming to help him - accommodations-wise. I know that MCPS cannot properly educate a child with the learning profile that my DS has. He needs specialized instruction because his brain is wired differently - like most of the kids referred to on this forum. his learning profile is failry complex (in my opinion)

FWIW, I am not really faulting MCPS for this because they are just not equipped. Add in the new common core standards and DS is quickly spiraling down.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like your child may need a private placement. Please call an attorney, they can help you get that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mark Martin in Baltimore.

+1