On July 11, over twenty five lawyers and summer associates attended the kickoff training event at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison for a special education pro bono project of Legal Services NYC, co-sponsored by AABANY. Attendees received a crash course on the special education process and how attorneys could advocate for students with special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

The goal of the project is to meet the need in the Chinese American community for educational advocacy. All too often students with disabilities are not receiving appropriate special education services from the NYC school district. Chinese families face additional hurdles given cultural and language access issues. The pro bono project will provide training to interested attorneys to be culturally competent advocates for Chinese families seeking appropriate special education services for their children. Attorneys from LSNYC including AABANY member, Nelson Mar, will provide supervision and training for this project.

To get involved with this project, email [email protected]. Thank you to Nelson Mar and all others involved in coordinating this project.