leveling the special education playing field

I ran across a good tip written by Jim Martin at the Trial Lawyer’s Resource Center. He called his short article The Case on a Single Page.

That got my attention because many parents I’ve worked with say their case is extremely complex and nobody understands their case against the school district.

What is probably going here is a sense of being overwhelmed. And who wouldn’t be overwhelmed if they aren’t familiar with the details about putting a case together for a hearing?

The takeaway point of Mr. Martin’s article is this:

Reduce your entire case presentation notes to 1 page.

Doing this will give you a clear outline of your entire case against the school district. It also gives you a clear functional overview of the basics of your case.

Once you see the whole picture, you will have more control and confidence. You will also have a road map that will guide you through your case presentation to a hearing officer.

This is how to do it.

A. Place a single sheet of paper in the landscape position and fold it in half. Then, fold it in half again.

Counting the front and back of the sheet of paper, you will now have 8 separate sections to write on.

B. Name each section:

(1) Story of your case,

For this section, the story of your case is not about who said what to whom. It is an outline, or talking points. It walks you through the story in its simplest form. It tells how the school denied FAPE and what you want the hearing officer to do about it.

It goes something like this: The school district denied FAPE because it failed to do X. As a result, Student was harmed. The hearing officer should rule against the school district and award (compensatory education, reimbursement, ESY, or whatever applies).

(2) Pre-hearing matters (conferences, motions, etc)

(3) Your claims (legal issues you want the hearing officer to decide),

(4) Your evidence exhibits, including proof of any amounts claimed for reimbursement.

(5) Summary of the facts that prove your claim(s),

(6) Witnesses,

Your witnesses

The school district’s witnesses

(7) Proposed Findings of Fact

(8) Closing Brief (or Closing Argument)

List only what you need in each category to present your case—this is an outline.

Revise each section until you have accurately reduced your case to its simplest form. You might find that you should re-frame the story of the case, rearrange the order of your witnesses, add (or eliminate) some of the exhibits or other evidence.

Write your summary and story of your case in plain, everyday language. Do not try to write or sound like a lawyer.

Once you have the case summary outline in your own words you will be able to make a much more credible and persuasive case presentation to the hearing officer.

Doing these exercises will help you discover any weaknesses in your case. It will also help you think about what the school district’s case (defenses) will be.

Keep your summary handy during the hearing. It will help while you are trying to think of several things at one time. It will also help you keep from getting sidetracked by the school district’s attorney.

- bp