Special Needs Planning, Disability and Special Education Services
"Protecting Special Needs Children And Their Families"
|
Aggressive Special Education and Special Needs Planning Lawyer for Massachusetts and Rhode Island
We bring a comprehensive approach to protecting our clients from the
system. We assist parents and grandparents through the special needs
planning process, to make sure that your child is taken care of in the
event you are no longer able to care for your child. We establish
Special Needs Trusts so that government benefit eligibility is preserved
while at the same time providing assets that will meet the
supplemental needs, and provide enhanced quality of life, for the child
with a disability.
In the courtrooms and schoolhouses,we zealously advocate for children and families as we fight to make sure that all our clients' children receive the free, appropriate, public education to which they are entitled under law. When possible, we take a collaborative approach to work with schools dedicated to providing the services your child needs. When necessary, we will not hesitate to protect your child's rights in a due process hearing or in Federal court. Some parents seek our advice and services at the beginning of their child’s entry into special education, this would be at either the early intervention level or at the pre-school level. Other parents need our services for their school age child, when he or she is not succeeding in general education. That usually occurs by the time a child is in second or third grade, and the academic challenges become pronounced. And, some parents, particularly those with adolescent children, find us when emotional problems severely impact on their child’s overall functioning and they are considering a residential school or treatment center placement. At whatever point in their child’s life, when parents need us we are there, we can arrange an initial appointment within days of your initial call. |
Fabisch Law Offices
|
|
Client Intake Process
We get a large number of calls from parent desirous of information and seeking advice on their special education problems. It is impossible to dispense this advice responsibly in a phone call with a parent without first reviewing the child's educational records, including evaluations, the current IEP, and correspondence from the school district. Should you call our office, you will initially speak to a paralegal who will assist you in gathering records and engaging us to review those educational records. It is only after those records are reviewed that substantive opinions can be offered by our staff.
Attorneys are required by our Rules of Professional Conduct to establish a written agreement with clients that explains the extent of the relationship between the lawyer and client. Should you contact us to review your child's special education case, the paralegal will require you to complete this consultation agreement form. In addition to that form the paralegal will obtain from you financial information, should you desire to proceed to engage the firm for representation in a due process hearing or court matter. Although it may seem intrusive, there is a reason the firm gathers this information from clients. One of the factors taken into account prior to quoting a family a monetary amount to retain the firm for legal action is the families financial status. Frankly, few families can afford the true cost of attorneys to represent them in special education litigation. Therefore, the firm works within its means to help those families that it can, often representing families at reduced or no cost to the family. When these families are assisted, our retainer agreement requires the family to cooperate in recovery of attorneys' fees from the offending school district should we prevail on behalf of the parent in the litigation. Our firm takes great pride in assisting families that through economics, geography, or ethnicity may have trouble accessing legal services. Our outreach efforts educating parents are most often designed to educate and inform parents that traditionally have trouble accessing lawyers. Should you wish to begin the intake process with the firm, take these steps: 1) Gather up your child's special education records, including current school evaluations, IEPs, progress reports, correspondence with the school district, and reports of medical evaluators. Below is a useful records request form that you may want to download and use to obtain the records from your school district. 2) Once you have these records, contact our office through this website, or by emailing directly. Our secretary Lauren will walk you through the intake process. It greatly speeds up the intake process if you provide the records to us immediately upon contacting the office. Those records can be provided through the mail, by scanning and emailing, or by fax. Please do not send originals by mail. |