Eileen M Hagerty is a partner with Kotin, Crabtree & Strong, LLP, in Boston, Massachusetts. She concentrates her practice in special education law. Ms. Hagerty represents and advises parents regarding all aspects of special education disputes, including the TEAM meeting process (evaluations, eligibility determinations, IEP development, program and placement disputes); suspension and expulsion hearings; mediation; formal due process proceedings before the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA), including discovery, negotiation, pre-hearing conferences, settlement conferences, and administrative hearings; federal district court and appellate court litigation; and attorneys' fee litigation. She represents students with all types of disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders, dyslexia and other learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, and mental health issues. Ms. Hagerty has been named as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the field of education law each year. She has co-chaired Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education‘s Annual School Law Conference each year. Ms. Hagerty contributes case commentary to the Massachusetts Special Education Reporter and edits the Massachusetts School Law Sourcebook and Citator. She is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. Ms. Hagerty participates in various public service activities, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors of a non-profit advocacy organization, Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC). She also serves as a member of MAC's Autism Advisory Committee. Ms. Hagerty lectures and writes frequently on topics in special education law for both legal and lay audiences.
Hope N Kirsch , M.A. (Ed.), Esq., is a licensed special education teacher and 25+ year litigation attorney. Her law practice is devoted to representing students throughout Arizona, pre-school through higher education, with a focus on special education and discipline. She represents and advises clients regarding evaluations, IEPs, 504s, disciplinary hearings, IDEA Due Process hearings, OCR, appeals, and bullying. Ms. Kirsch was a special education teacher and special education coordinator in the New York City public schools for 18 years where she worked with the most challenging populations and supervised and trained teachers in teaching strategies, curriculum development, IEPs and behavior management. She has a Bachelor’s degree in special education from Boston University (cum laude), a Master’s degree in special education from NYU, 30+ post-graduate credits in educational supervision and administration, and her law degree from Brooklyn Law School. Ms. Kirsch is admitted to the state and federal district courts in New York, New Jersey, Arizona and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a frequent speaker nationally and locally on education law, regularly trains mental health professionals, advocates, attorneys, and parents in educational advocacy, and consults to attorneys in other states. Ms. Kirsch also serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the Superior Court of Arizona.
Lori Kirsch-Goodwin is a founding member and partner with the special education law firm, Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch, PLLC, which has been recognized in the Phoenix Business Journal as the top specialty law firm in special education. She is a 33-year trial attorney who devotes her practice to special education. Ms. Kirsch-Goodwin is the mother of an adult son on the autism spectrum who also has cerebral palsy. She began her practice in special education law as she began navigating her son's issues through the school system. She handles IEP, 504, identification, evaluation, and discipline matters. Additionally, she handles DDD appeals. She prevailed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding a location issue case. Ms. Kirsch-Goodwin earned her B.A. degree from Syracuse University and her J.D. degree from the University of Bridgeport School of Law.
Ronald S Stadler is a senior attorney with the law firm of Kopka Pinkus Dolin PC, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mr. Stadler is an experienced educational attorney who uses his skills to advise and defend his clients before administrative tribunals, courts, juries and arbitrators. He regularly uses his substantive knowledge of education law and employment law to assist school districts and other educational institutions in resolving disputes or defending them against administrative claims or claims brought in federal and state court. Mr. Stadler routinely represents school districts in matters arising under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act at mediation, due process hearings and subsequent review in federal courts. He also routinely defends school districts in federal courts on cases arising under the Constitution, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 1983, Section 1981, Title VII, Title IX, Title VI and other state and federal laws. Mr. Stadler earned his J.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School and his B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he was a Harry S. Truman Scholar. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Seventh and Eighth Circuits and all courts in Wisconsin.
