Very often a parent of a disabled child does not know whether or not they actually need the services of an attorney, when educational problems begin to develop at school. For this reason, we offer an initial consultation to parents. This consultation allows the parent to share their concerns with the attorney and together develop a strategy for dealing effectively with the problems.
ARRANGING FOR A CONSULTATION
If you believe that a consultation may be beneficial, you should make the appropriate appointment.
If you call our Tampa office at (813) 348-6314 or email us via the Contact page, our paralegal, Taquaisha Johnson, will discuss your situation with you and help you determine whether an attorney consultation would be appropriate. Please feel free to share the details with Taquaisha, as she is under the same rules of confidentiality as the attorney. If you agree that a consultation would be helpful, Taquaisha will schedule the consultation as conveniently as possible for your schedule.
Please plan to spend from 1.5 to 2 hours in the consultation. We charge a flat fee of $300.00 for the consultation.
PROVIDING BASIC INFORMATION
You can submit some basic information by filling out our Client Information form.
Individuals who have obtained an appointment for an initial consultation may submit their client information in advance of their appointment, by filling out and submitting the form on this page. This form is specifically designed for individuals, who are seeking assistance for children with disabilities in public school. Individuals seeking different services may disregard irrelevant
Note: The Consultation information provided on this page relates primarily to Special Education Consultations, but there is room for descriptions of other matters.
What is a Consultation?
A consultation is an opportunity to have your child’s records and educational situation reviewed. Then the attorney or advocate will discuss your child’s educational needs and provide you with guidance and understanding relative to the child’s legal and educational rights. We work with the parents help to develop a strategy for obtaining appropriate services for the child. By the time the consultation concludes the parents should have a much clearer sense of what needs to be done for their child. In some cases, the parent is then able to advocate for their child themselves. In other cases it will be necessary for our office to intervene directly.
What Should Be Done in Preparation for the Consultation?
The parent will get the maximum benefit from the consultation by doing the following things prior to coming to the consultation:
- Fill out the Client Information Form: If you scroll to the bottom of this page you will find the Client Information form. Complete the form and in this way, we will have some basic information before you arrive for your consultation. This saves us valuable time and insures that we have not forgotten to obtain some important information.
- Bring important documents: The parent should bring a selection of the child’s most pertinent educational documents. These should include copies of the most recent IEP, and evaluations. In addition, you should bring any documents which are related directly to any issues you are having with the school district. It would be helpful to bring a set of these documents, which could be left with us. These should be copies, as we do not want to keep your originals.
The school district is obligated to give you a copy of your child’s educational records if you request them. The first copy is supposed to be free, more copies are charged at a reasonable copy rate.
Client Information Form PDF
If for some reason you experience difficulty with the online intake form, please click the button below to download the PDF file and submit by email or fax.