August 2025:
The MLO Minute: “Injuries in Schools and Institutions – We’re the Lawyers That Other Lawyers Hire” —
By Heather Hulse, JD, MS, MA, Caitlin McAndrews, Esq., Daniel Woody, Esq., and Dennis McAndrews, Esq. —
When a student with disabilities in a school or an individual in a residential care facility is injured through the fault of others, there can be major roadblocks to recovery. For example, Pennsylvania’s sovereign immunity laws prevent most lawsuits against school districts and many state-owned facilities; this sovereign immunity is the primary impediment which personal injury lawyers face in seeking appropriate monetary recovery for injured students and residents of many facilities.
It is very common in these cases for a personal injury attorney to write a demand letter to a school district or operator of a residential facility only to receive a response from an insurance carrier claiming that no liability can be asserted due to immunity issues, and totally denying the claim. In these cases, we are often brought into the case by the personal injury attorney to assist by overcoming immunity issues through our expertise in using federal civil rights laws. And once we are brought into these cases, the conversation frequently changes—often very dramatically.
Our firm is highly skilled in addressing federal civil rights claims on behalf of students or adults with disabilities or individuals who have been the victim of sexual abuse or violence. We routinely assist families and victims in these matters by pursuing claims under such federal laws as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991, and Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Acts. Even though these statutes involve a higher standard of proof than the negligence standard in most typical accident cases, we can develop evidence and expert reports to establish that the injuries resulted from “deliberate indifference” by responsible school or facility staff, which allows for substantial monetary recovery under one or more of these federal statutes. By proceeding in this manner, Pennsylvania’s sovereign immunity statutes become irrelevant, and a broad range of damages can be obtained.
We have obtained tens of millions of dollars for injured students and adults in care facilities, often where the claim was initially denied completely, and the personal injury attorney brought us into the matter, recognizing our expertise in assisting these individuals.
This work is an important part of our practice on behalf of students with disabilities in public schools and in charter schools. And we also protect the public benefits of the injured party through our decades of experience in creating special needs trusts for our successful clients, which is part of our extensive estate planning work for families, and in particular for families with an individual who is disabled or elderly. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us by clicking here.
