Pennsylvania Special Education Lawyers | Public Education | Autism | ADD

We recognize that many parents currently cannot afford to consult with a special education attorney about their child. We want to change that. How? By reducing our fees to help parents access legal advice in the areas they need it most. Here's how it works:

The initial consultation is our opportunity to learn the facts, assess the options, and develop a plan to obtain the educational services your child needs. First, we review the IEPs, evaluations, progress reports, correspondence and other important records that you provide to us in advance of the meeting. Second, we meet with you either in our office or at a more convenient location, if you reside some distance away, to obtain additional information. At our meeting, we provide you with a CD-ROM containing the documents you provided to us in PDF format. Third, we prepare a brief email following our meeting setting forth suggested "to do" items and recommendations for going forward. We typically spend 3-5 hours in this process, depending on the amount of records that must be reviewed prior to our initial meeting. It is a very important part of our work with parents. Our charge: $250.00.

Our objective in the initial consultation is to help you find ways to obtain the services your child needs with little or no attorney involvement. We are pleased whenever we can do that. Where that is not possible, we in some cases will suggest parent “coaching.” In other cases, where indicated, we may recommend that you go beyond informal efforts to get the services your child needs. That could include filing a complaint with the State Department of Education. It also could include mediation or going to "due process."

Sometimes, all you need is someone who knows the law, can provide legal advice, can help you avoid the legal “landmines,” and can help steer you towards getting the results your child needs. This can take the form of helping you to “strategize,” get organized, develop legal arguments you can use at IEP meetings, prepare letters, follow up on meetings, and execute your plan. If it’s something we can do from our office, we have one hourly charge: $125.00 per hour.

But this hourly fee isn’t limited to work we do “behind the scenes.” Sometimes, it is important for the school district to know that you are represented by legal counsel. It may help get their “attention” and help them focus on what needs to be done. Whether we do or do not take a more visible role as your counsel, we charge the same amount for in-office activities - $125.00 per hour. If, as part of this work, it is necessary for us to attend an IEP or other school meeting, or undertake other work outside the office, we charge $100 per hour for that work. Yes, we charge less for work we do outside the office than in the office. The reason? Sometimes, parents just need to have a lawyer attend a meetings with them or on their behalf. We want to keep our rates for that work as low as we can so more parents can afford it.

So, for example, in a school discipline case, it may be necessary for us to represent you and your child at a manifestation determination review conference or a school board hearing, or to leave our office for other reasons, such as to meet with a psychologist or other expert. If it is necessary for us to leave our office to perform such activities, our fee is $100.00 per hour.

Due process hearings or litigation in state or federal courts present a special case. Because a due process hearing can involve 100 or more hours of attorney time, plus expert witness fees and other costs, we may be willing to discuss a “cap” on attorney fees in some cases. Otherwise, the cost for most parents would be prohibitive. Therefore, if your child’s case must go to due process, we will need to discuss a fee agreement that is tailored to your situation. But our hourly fee for work undertaken to prosecute a case at due process is generally $125 per hour, regardless of whether the work is done "in-office" or "out-of-office."

We can set low hourly rates by working efficiently, keeping our costs down, and exploiting technology. Scanning all documents helps us to work efficiently, reducing storage costs and time wasted in locating paper documents. We rely on email to the maximum extent possible because it is fast and efficient. We use “snail mail” only when necessary. We only access secretarial help when we need it. We are proficient in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and, of course, the Internet. We therefore can create documents on the computer screen, whether letters or legal briefs. We do not need a secretary for that purpose. Because nearly all of our documents are in electronic form, we also do not need a secretary for routine office activities, such as filing. We perform legal research electronically through Westlaw. No wasted trips to the law library. By keeping our costs low and working efficiently, we can pass those savings on to you.

In this way, we can focus on what’s really important: helping you obtain all services your child needs and is legally entitled to receive! That’s our mission.

Education Law Advocates, P.C. skillfully represents parents and their children in southeastern Pennsylvania, including the communities of West Chester, Lower Merion, Coatesville, Paoli, Downingtown and Upper Darby, and throughout the Philadelphia metro area, including Chester County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Bucks County, Lancaster County and Berks County.

Education Law Advocates, P.C.
Special Education Lawyers
The Culbertson Building
590 Snyder Avenue
West Chester, Pennsylvania 19382
Voice: 610.696.5006
Fax: 610.696.6590

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Copyright © 2008 by Education Law Advocates, P.C. All rights reserved. You may reproduce materials available at this site for your own personal use and for non-commercial distribution. All copies must include this copyright statement.

Education Law Advocates, P.C.

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