Selene Almazan, Esq. (MD) has been a member of COPAA since its inception in 1998.  Selene was on the Board of Directors from 2003-2014.  She has represented students and families for nearly 30 years.  Selene is a former Supervising Attorney for the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland where she represented children in the foster care system, including representation in special education matters. For nearly 23 years, Selene represented parents in special education matters with a primary focus on least restrictive environment (LRE) issues at the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education.  Since September 2014, Selene has been the Legal Director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) where she supports the work of the Amicus Committee as well as works on federal and local policy issues.  Since May 2015 Selene maintains a private practice focusing on parent and student representation in special education matters, including LRE. She represents families at IEP team meetings, state complaint proceedings, mediations, due process hearings, suspension/expulsion proceedings and federal court proceedings, including matters involving violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. She has extensive experience training families, teachers, school administrators, attorneys and advocates on legal issues related to special education law as well as disability discrimination issues.

Ellen has more than thirty years of experience with litigation and legal writing, both as an attorney and as a professor of legal writing. She is admitted to the bar in Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island, as well as six federal district and circuit courts. She has worked as a civil rights and disability rights attorney since 1986 when she joined the New York City Commission on Human Rights. She served as Deputy Director and then Director of the Equal Employment and Public Accommodation Division, where she oversaw the intake and investigation of discrimination complaints. She then joined New York Lawyers for the Public Interest as a staff attorney in its disability rights unit. Her work there included Burr v. Sobol, which established compensatory education as a remedy for special education and also attorneys’ fees for administrative hearings under IDEA. When NYLPI established its Disability Law Center, Ellen became Director. Under her leadership, NYLPI filed four of the first ADA Title II complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice, including a case that resulted in making the Empire State Building’s observation deck accessible. In Florida, she worked for Legal Services for Greater Miami for a year and then worked for the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities (now Disability Rights Florida). There, her work included special education cases as well as class action lawsuits, including Prado-Steiman v. Bush, which resulted in a settlement that required Florida’s Medicaid program to improve and expand its Home and Community based Waiver program for people with developmental disabilities. After moving to Rhode Island, she taught legal writing at Roger Williams University School of Law and now has a private practice that includes special education. She often works with the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, the Disability Law Center of Massachusetts, Rhode Island Legal Services, and the Rhode Island Disability Law Center, both on individual cases and on systemic law reform work including special education. Ellen is a member of the COPAA amicus committee and has co-authored many amicus briefs for COPAA

Andrew Feinstein, Esq. (Connecticut) - Andrew has represented children with disabilities as an attorney for the past 20 years. For the past eight years, he has practiced out of Mystic, Connecticut. He now has an office in Manchester, Connecticut, as well, with two lawyers in it. He co-chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee of COPAA and is an adjunct professor in the School of Education of both Central Connecticut State University and Southern Connecticut State University. Attorney Feinstein was graduated from Wesleyan University in 1972 and the New York University School of Law in 1975. He completed the Senior Manager in Government Program at the Kennedy School, Harvard University, in 1983. He has served as a professional staff member of the House Committee on Armed Services and Chief Counsel of the House Civil Service Subcommittee.

Ms. Scavongelli is a a staff attorney and has been with the EdLaw since 2012 when she joined the project as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. Ms. Scavongelli graduated Northeastern University School of Law. A recipient of a Rappaport Fellowship at the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate and a recipient of a Hennessy Fellowship at the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, Ms. Scavongelli brings a wide range of experience to the Project. In addition to serving EdLaw, Ms. Scavongelli is on the board of Bottom Line, an organization that is dedicated to helping disadvantaged students get into college and on the board of CASA, an organization that recruits, trains and supports volunteers who advocate for abused and neglected children before the Suffolk County.

Sarah is a partner in Reisman Carolla Gran & Zuba LLP. Sarah brings experience in both complex civil litigation and education to her advocacy on behalf of individuals with disabilities and their families. Before joining RCGZ, Sarah worked in the Special Education practice group at a mid-sized law firm and at a business litigation firm in Philadelphia where she developed sophisticated negotiation, counseling, and dispute resolution skills. She now concentrates her practice on vindicating the rights of students in schools, especially students with disabilities, and on related efforts to obtain appropriate services and supports for individuals with disabilities in the community. Sarah assists individuals in supporting their adult children, relatives, and friends through guardianship, powers of attorney and other legal relationships, as appropriate. Sarah represents parents in New Jersey and Pennsylvania mediations and due process hearings, original actions and appeals in the United States district courts, and appeals and arguments before the Third Circuit.

Before practicing law, Sarah taught students of all ages in a wide range of classrooms, from students entitled to special education in an urban public school to general education students at an independent day school. As an attorney, she has broadened her understanding of the needs of her clients by obtaining additional education training, including intensive training in the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction.

Professional and Community Associations

Sarah is an active member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (“COPAA”), a national independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization of attorneys, advocates and parents. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of special education law through speaking engagements, both locally and nationally, with parents, attorneys and education professionals. Sarah has led many full-day pre-conference programs and breakout sessions at Council of Parent Attorney and Advocates Conference, spoken at Lehigh’s Special Education Law Conference and Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Exceptional Children Conference and gathered for personal conversations with local parent groups.

Sarah’s additional public service focuses on the well-being of women, children, and those who may be marginalized in the community. In 2020, along with other dedicated volunteers, she worked with municipal leaders to found the Township of Harrison Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advisory Board, providing guidance to the Township on related issues and spearheading initiatives to make the town a more welcoming, safe, inclusive place to live, work and visit. Before that, for more than fifteen years, Sarah served on the boards of Community Treatment Solutions and Legacy Treatment Services, nonprofit mental and behavioral health providers for youth and adults throughout the community. She has been a Girl Scout troop leader and girls’ youth soccer coach, and she served as President of the Board of the Mullica Hill Women’s Triathlon Club.

Admitted to Practice

Sarah is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey.

Education

Sarah received her J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 2002 where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, President of The Initiative for Public Interest Law at Yale, and Director of the TRO Project for Battered Women. She earned a B.A. degree summa cum laude in the Honors Program at The College of New Jersey in 1999, where she majored in English and minored in Psychology, with studies in Elementary Education.

Michael J. Eig, the founder and owner of the firm, Michael J. Eig and Associates, has been practicing special education law and advocacy in the metropolitan D.C. area since 1975. His educational background includes degrees in cultural anthropology and education from Brandeis University (1970), a Masters in Education and Social Policy from Harvard University (1972), and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center (1975).

A former public school teacher, Mr. Eig has combined his interest and training in education with a commitment to special education law, and advocated on behalf of disabled children and their families for the past forty-eight years. He has served as counsel and/or amicus in special education cases before federal courts, including the Supreme Court. He was counsel in Schaffer v. Weast, before the Supreme Court, class counsel in the landmark Mills v. D.C. Board of Education, amicus in Smith v. Robinson and North v. D.C., and served as plaintiffs' counsel in Doyle v. Arlington School Board. He has participated in countless IEP meetings and Due Process Hearings since the 1970s and has lectured and written extensively in the area of special education law, including authoring the current article on Education of the Disabled in the Dictionary of American History.

Rich Weinfeld is Executive Director of Weinfeld Education Group, WEG. www.weinfeldeducationgroup.com, a group of special education consultants, dedicated to helping all students reach their potential. For the past 20 years, Rich has directed the work of WEG, and served as an expert witness and advocate for appropriate services for students with special needs throughout the United States.

Rich began his career teaching elementary school and then spent 14 years working with emotionally disturbed students, and 6 years directing a program for students with learning disabilities, physical challenges, and autism spectrum disorders. His career in public school education culminated with 6 years as the director of programs for gifted students with disabilities.
Rich has co-authored 6 books and many articles on a variety of special needs topics, including “Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties” and “School Success for Kids with High Functioning Autism”; taught a course on Gifted Students with Disabilities at Johns Hopkins; created and taught a course on advocacy; and provided training for a wide variety of professionals and parent groups.

Paula A. Rosenstock holds a B.A. in psychology from Tufts University, magna cum laude, and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. She was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 2003, the District of Columbia Bar in 2005 and the Maryland Bar in 2014.

Ms. Rosenstock has spent nearly her entire legal career practicing special education law in the Washington D.C. area. She provides support and guidance to parents seeking to secure appropriate educational services for their children through the IEP process, administrative due process appeals and in federal court. Prior to law school, she worked in several schools and programs for children with disabilities.

Meghan M. Probert holds a B.A. in History and Spanish from Saint Michael’s College, cum laude, and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. She has worked in special education law since 2012, providing support and guidance to parents seeking to secure appropriate educational services for their children through the IEP process, administrative due process appeals and in federal court.

Ms. Probert has a longstanding passion for working with children and adults with disabilities. She served as President of the St. Michael's chapter of Best Buddies, an organization creating opportunities for one-to-one friendships for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as engaged with representatives from around the country at the Best Buddies National Leadership Conference in 2003.

Amy Langerman is a licensed attorney in the State of Arizona and a special education consultant in San Diego County, California. She is also a parent of a child with special needs. Amy's unique collaborative style working with IEP teams in California often results in parents, teachers and administrators leaving the room saying “That was the best IEP meeting I have ever attended”.

Amy graduated with honors from the Arizona State University College of Law and worked for 20 years as a civil litigation attorney, handling complex medical malpractice, employment discrimination and insurance cases. Amy served as president of the Arizona Trial Lawyers association and headed its amicus curiae (friend of the court) committee for 20 years. 

Roy Atwood is an experienced and successful trial attorney. Roy spent many years with large regional and international law firms, including 14 years as a Trial Practice Partner at Jones Day, one of the largest law firms in the world. In 2013, Roy took early retirement from Jones Day and opened the firm of Atwood Gameros LLP.

This move to his own firm allowed Roy the opportunity to pursue a passion he has had for many years of representing families of students with special needs in securing their rights to a free and appropriate education. As the parent of a son with special needs, Roy knows how intimidating the process can be of obtaining the educational opportunities students with special needs require. Now, he brings his expertise as a trial lawyer and first-hand knowledge of the special needs of students with disabilities to the service of those who are not receiving the services to which they are entitled. Since beginning his special education practice, Roy has participated in two Fifth Circuit appeals and one Seventh Circuit appeal, including two in which the primary issue was attorneys’ fees.

Roy has been recognized as a Best Lawyer in Dallas by D Magazine and as a Texas
SuperLawyer each year since 2009 and as a Best Lawyer in America each year since 2014. U.S. News and World Report has recognized Atwood Gameros, LLP as a Best Law Firm each year since 2014.

Jonathan S. Corchnoy has been practicing law for over 37 years in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and now has opened an office in Sarasota, Florida. He is licensed to practice law in Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, is a member of The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA). Prior to coming to the Philadelphia area after graduating from law school, he clerked with the United States Department of Justice, Tax division. He is a 1981 graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., and Allegheny College, in Meadville, PA. He spent his youth growing up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

He is active in special education, personal injury, and elder law issues. He has had both six and seven figure verdicts. He has successfully litigated special education Due Process hearings, Incapacity hearings, and insurance disputes regarding a variety of issues. He has been involved in appellate litigation before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the U. S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

He is active in helping parents of special needs children receive a free and appropriate public education as well as plan for their future personal and financial independence. He currently is a member of the Legal Services for Exceptional Children Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the School Law Committee of the New Jersey Bar Association. He helps teach professional continuing education courses for Lorman Education Services. He is a volunteer AARP Driver Safety Instructor. He is the father of a gifted child and a special needs child.

He also is involved in helping middle income clients develop affordable estate plans so that they may maintain their independence.

Dorene Jackson Philpot of Philpot Law Office PLLC practices in Michigan, Indiana, and Texas, in the area of: Special Education Law, representing children with special needs and their parents.

Ms. Philpot is the recipient of the national 2012 Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy from COPAA (Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates). She is the author of "Do-It-Yourself Special Education Due Process: An Educational Guide" which is available at www.learningenabledpublications.com. She is admitted to the federal courts in the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana and the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas. She is also admitted to the Western District of Michigan.

Lindsay Appell is a Staff Attorney in Disability Rights California’s Youth Practice Group. Lindsay provides legal representation to students with disabilities fighting school pushout and the school-to-prison pipeline. She has represented many students in expedited due process proceedings to successfully drop expulsion proceedings. She also shares tools with students and families to empower them as self-advocates in the special education system.

Chelsea Helena is the Associate Supervising Attorney in Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County’s Education Rights Practice. Her work focuses on representing students and families in discipline, policing, and special education matters in Antelope Valley schools. Prior to becoming an attorney, she worked for five years as a public-school teacher in Atlanta, Georgia and got her master’s degree in early childhood education.

Melissa K. Waugh (she/her/hers) is a skilled attorney in practice for over twenty years. She has practiced special education law for the last thirteen years. Melissa represents parents at IEP meetings, in mediation, with state and federal complaints, in due process hearings, and in federal and state litigation. Her representation includes matters arising under the IDEA, the ADA, Section 504, and Title IX. Melissa graduated cum laude from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree with a focus in biology, chemistry, and physics. Melissa received her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center in 2000. While attending law school, Melissa served on the Houston Journal of International Law as Articles Editor, the Student Bar Association as 1st Vice President & Section Representative, the Honor Court as a Justice, the Health Law Organization, and the Public Interest Law Organization. She also won first place in the Tom Newhouse Mediation Competition. Melissa also holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Texas-Health Science Center. Melissa and her husband, Lt. Col. Bryan "Marty" Waugh (Ret.), are the parents of two amazing children who happen to have special needs. After adopting their children from foster care in 2010 and being exposed for the first time to special education and IEPs, Melissa quickly realized how complicated this area of the law is and the dire need for more attorneys representing the interests of parents of children with disabilities in our schools. Melissa started her own law firm to assist families of children with disabilities and has served as a Guardian ad Litem for children in court. She joined Belkowitz Law, PLLC in 2018. Melissa regularly presents to parent and professional groups and has served as faculty for COPAA, the Institute for Special Education Advocacy at William & Mary Law School, VPLC Annual Statewide Legal Aid Conference, the University of Richmond School of Law Special Education Symposium, and the National Business Institute. She is a long-time member of COPAA, and a member of the Special Education Advisory Committee (“SEAC”) for Loudoun County Public Schools. Melissa is licensed to practice law in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Jennifer D. Laviano, (CT) holds a B.A. in English Literature from Skidmore College and earned her J.D., cum laude, from Quinnipiac University School of Law. Jennifer Laviano is an attorney in private practice in Connecticut who focuses on the representation of children and adolescents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Her representation includes attendance at IEP team meetings and mediation and zealous advocacy in litigation in due process hearings and federal court. Attorney Laviano is a regular presenter, locally and nationally, on the Civil Rights of students with disabilities, and is the co-author of the popular book, Your Special Education Rights: What Your School District Isn't Telling You.

Since 1999, Mr. Goodmark has dedicated a majority of his practice to representing families, teachers and students in their pursuit of equality, fairness and justice in Georgia’s schools.  Mr. Goodmark provides full service legal representation in all types of education law proceedings ranging from appearances at educational planning meetings to representing clients in complex federal litigation.

In addition, Mr. Goodmark works with a variety of stakeholders to ensure that students with disabilities in the most vulnerable circumstances, including court involved youth and those with mental illness or developmental disabilities, received their federally mandated right to free, appropriate public education.  Working within the educational, juvenile justice and child welfare systems, Mr. Goodmark has presented to a multitude of stakeholders about the impact of the state and federal education laws on Georgia’s youth with disabilities.

Mr. Goodmark also commits a portion of his practice to securing and enforcing the constitutional rights of Georgia’s citizens.  Mr. Goodmark has represented and secured positive outcomes for many clients seeking relief for the unlawful intrusion on their constitutionally guaranteed civil rights.  From students unlawfully detained while at school, to teachers illegally terminated after exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, Mr. Goodmark has worked to ensure access to justice through the both state and the federal court system.

CRAIG GOODMARK AT A GLANCE

•    Education Law Attorney•    Represents Families, Teachers and Students with Disabilities•    Focus on Special Education Matters in Georgia•    Constitutional/Civil Rights Practice for Georgia’s citizens•    Student/Educator First Amendment Claims•    Fourth Amendment Search/Seizure Claims•    Open Records/Open Meetings Act Issues