Autism Family Gets Sued by the Bar
I have heard of school districts suing families in disputes about the “appropriate” education for an autistic child. Now, it seems, the lawyers are suing the families.
More specifically, the Cleveland Bar Association sued autism parent Brian Woods. According to the CBA, Mr. Woods had engaged in the unauthorized practice of law; the CBA sought a $10,000 fine, lawyer’s fees, and “a promise that he would not continue to assist other parents seeking to represent their own children in court,” as Adam Liptak writes in Nonlawyer Father Wins His Suit Over Education, and the Bar Is Upset in today’s New York Times.
Mr. Woods, an adjunct professor at Cuyahoga Community College, had sued the school board in Akron, Ohio, and won about $160,000 and many concessions on behalf of his autistic son, Daniel. “‘I soundly defeated a team of lawyers,’” Mr. Woods was quoted as saying.
The CBA withdrew its complaint and apologized to the family, while admitting that it should not have filed its complaint until after the U.S. Supreme Court acted in a related case.
That case involves two other Ohio parents, Jeff and Sandee Winkelman. In November, the federal appeals court in Cincinnati gave the Winkelmans, who had been representing their autistic son Jacob in a suit against the Parma, Ohio, school district, 30 days to find a lawyer or have their case dismissed. Justice John Paul Stevens issued a stay of that order in December.
Federal courts around the country are divided over the circumstances in which parents who are not lawyers may represent their children in federal court under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
The Winkelmans simply could not afford a lawyer–one wanted $2,600 biweekly.
Let’s hope the U.S. Supreme Court makes its judgment on the basis of what an autistic child needs, not on what the lawyers do (with apologies to our lawyer friends).
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POSTED IN: Education, Legal Issues, Legislation
1 opinion for Autism Family Gets Sued by the Bar
Andrew Cuddy
Jul 22, 2007 at 6:44 pm
As a lawyer that represents parents in special education litigation, I just wanted to post a brief comment. Unscrupulous school districts and their attorneys will engage in any kind of tactic to deter parents from enforcing their disabled child’s rights. When they threatened Woods and Winkelman, no doubt these threats caused other parents to become intimidated. Thank God for parents like the Woods and the Winkelmans standing up for their children. They are carrying the torch for many parents.
Other tactics that districts and their attorneys employ to intimidate parents are false reports to child protection services, false criminal complaints, withholding services from the child, etc. Parents need to resist and publicize when these things are done to their family by school districts. These things will only be remedied when they shrivel in the bright sun.
Read more about tactics that district’s employ to delay and deny services to children in “The Special Education Battlefield: A Guide to Due Process and Other Tools of Effective Advocacy.” It can be found on http://www.amazon.com or on the publishers site at http://www.andrewcuddybooks.com .
Andrew Cuddy
http://www.cuddylawoffice.com
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