The MLO Minute
McAndrews Law Offices Wins Major Federal Court Special Education Decision
February 7th, 2018: On January 29, 2018, McAndrews Law Offices prevailed in a major education case in federal district court in Philadelphia. The case involved the all-too-common recent situation where a public charter school goes out of business and children with special education needs and their families are seemingly left without recourse to obtain compensatory education and reimbursement for financial costs.
In these cases, it has been the consistent position of McAndrews Law Offices that the Pennsylvania Department of Education is responsible for fulfilling the entitlements of children and their families to all their critical rights under federal special education law. In this recent decision, the federal court in Philadelphia agreed with MLO that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is responsible for fulfilling the special education obligations of a charter school which ceases to exist.
In the case of Angelique D. v. Pennsylvania Department of Education, in negotiations, we were able to obtain 1780 hours of compensatory education services at a rate of $60 per hour on behalf of the child. However, other financial obligations of the charter school in the form of attorneys fees – which insure the availability of legal counsel to most families – were vigorously challenged by PDE, but the federal court disagreed, finding that the state must step into the shoes of the charter school in fulfilling these obligations of the defunct charter school under IDEA.
This decision ensures that families of children with disabilities will be able to secure legal counsel such is McAndrews Law Offices which is willing to represent families who might otherwise be unable to secure legal representation on behalf of their underserved children. Click here to read the full MLO MINUTE in your browser.
February 8th, 2018: Our recent MLO Minute discussed a significant federal court victory on behalf of a client in a precedent-setting special education case against the Pennsylvania Department of Education. These successes in complex cases are almost never the work of just one attorney.
Our federal court specialist, Mike Gehring, produced a magnificent legal brief in federal court, and our trial attorney, Michael Connolly, obtained an excellent and valuable award of Compensatory Education as a prelude to the federal court action. Once the matter was in federal court, our strategic team including our Supervising Partner, Heidi Konkler-Goldsmith, our CEO, Katie Ryan, and our founding partner, Dennis McAndrews, all of whom participated with crafting strategy and the federal court documents.
These attorneys collectively possess decades of litigation experience and this extensive professional background produces excellent results for our clients. Click here to read the full MLO MINUTE in your browser.
McAndrews Law Offices, P.C. is a nationally recognized firm that provides families of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Area, and New Jersey with exceptional legal representation in the representation of individuals involved in higher education allegations of misconduct, Estate Planning, and Special Education matters.
