Attorney Roundtable - Manifestation Determination Reviews (MDRs) - Free for COPAA Members (Members-Only Event)

Includes a Live Web Event on 09/17/2025 at 1:00 PM (EDT)

Attorney Roundtables are brought to you by COPAA's Attorney Committee, co-chaired by Craig Goodmark and Jennifer Laviano. The September topic is Manifestation Determination Reviews (MDRs) led by Mayra Lira, Esq The first 30 minutes frame the issue, and the remaining 30 minutes are for an open discussion on cases, trends, strategies, best practices, etc. on the topic.

Please note the attorney roundtables are not recorded, as they are informal discussions and not a formal training tool like a webinar. This allows participants (who are mostly attorneys) to ask questions about their cases, strategies, trends, best practices, without worrying about a recording. A slide deck is usually provided for the roundtables and captions are always added to the meeting. If you require accommodations please email learningcenter@copaa.org.

Mayra Lira, Esq.

Supervising Staff Attorney for Public Counsel's Education Rights Team

Public Counsel & COPAA

Mayra Lira is the Supervising Staff Attorney for Public Counsel's Education Rights Team. She oversees a team that combines legal advocacy with social work support to address racial and economic inequalities and confront the school to prison pipeline and the opportunity gap for students of color. Her practice includes direct representation of families with children with disabilities and youth who are system-involved in all stages of special education advocacy and students facing expulsion and school pushout. Mayra leverages what the team learns in individual cases to inform policy reform efforts at the local and state level.