Reply to Special needs lawyer in IEP meetings

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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.[/quote]

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