what lawyer do i need to sue a school

What Kind of Lawyer Handles Lawsuits against Schools?

• Lawyers for Parents and Students. Lawsuits brought by parents and students against a school district could be anything from a slip-and-fall case to a violation by the school district of ...
• Union Representation for Staff. ...
• Lawyers for the School District. ...
• School District General Counsel. ...

Full Answer

What are the best schools to become a lawyer?

Therefore, if you intend to file a lawsuit against a school district, then it may be in your best interest to hire a local government attorney before you take any further action. An experienced government attorney can review the facts of your case and can determine if you have a …

What kind of lawyer handles lawsuits against schools?

Dec 04, 2018 · What Kind of Lawyer Handles Lawsuits against Schools? Lawyers for Parents and Students. Lawsuits brought by parents and students against a school district could be anything... Union Representation for Staff. Lawsuits between a school district and its employees typically fall under collective... ...

What education do you need to become a lawyer?

Not only do impacted students regularly develop depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues but parents may suffer considerably as they witness their children's distress firsthand. Choosing the Right Lawyer to Sue School Districts Today's …

How to become a lawyer?

Do I Need a Lawyer to Sue the School if My Concerns About My Child Being Bullied Are Not Handled Adequately? It’s not strictly required, but it’s highly advisable to retain a lawyer for a child bullying lawsuit. The procedural complications and substantive law involved in pursuing a claim for personal injury or wrongful death based on ...

Identifying Your “Cause of Action”

You always must identify your legal cause of action (or type of legal claim). Some common causes of action against schools involve: 1. Discriminati...

Filing An Administrative Complaint Against The School

In many school-related cases, you must complete an administrative complaint process before you file a lawsuit with the courts (sometimes referred t...

Filing A Lawsuit Against A Public School District

Once you exhaust any administrative remedies, you may file a lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit against a school district requires the filing of a legal com...

Is The Process of Suing A School District The Same For Private Schools?

Private schools are not protected by governmental immunity. However, if a private school accepts federal funding, it must comply with certain laws...

Do I Need A Lawyer For Help With Suing A School District?

Filing a lawsuit against a school district is a time intensive and detailed process. An experienced government lawyer can help you avoid costly mis...

What happens if you sue a school district?

If you sue a school district, the district will hire its own counsel. The district may hire a single attorney, or it may hire an entire law firm. A law firm, as opposed to a solo practicing attorney, holds the advantage of having many attorneys to draw on for expertise and having more resources to cover expenses.

What is an education law attorney?

Education law attorneys typically handle such matters as student rights, student discipline, bullying, harassment and school governance; if your issues involve other types of problems, another type of lawyer may be appropriate.

What does a school district attorney do?

The school district will pay for the legal services directly without going through a law firm. Counsel hired by the district as general counsel usually handle daily legal questions, contractual issues and smaller lawsuits involving simpler laws, such as open records requests or procedural questions for school board meetings. However, these attorneys may also advise on more complex lawsuits, typically with the assistance of a firm or attorney separately hired for a specific lawsuit.

What is a slip and fall lawsuit?

Lawsuits brought by parents and students against a school district could be anything from a slip-and-fall case to a violation by the school district of local, state, or federal statutes. You'll need to hire a lawyer that specializes in the type of legal problem you're experiencing. For example, if your child has been injured on school premises, ...

What is a union attorney?

In addition, union attorneys are frequently used in the course of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. When the union and the school district are unable to reach agreement through negotiation or arbitration, the agreement occasionally proceeds to the courts, where a union attorney will represent the district's employees.

What to do if your child is being bullied?

For example, if your child has been injured on school premises, you may need to hire a personal injury lawyer. If you think your child is being bullied, has special needs that are not being met or is facing discriminatory practices or harassment from educators and other staff, you'll need an education lawyer.

What is educational malpractice?

Educational Malpractice: Failure to properly or satisfactorily educate a student can sometimes open up the school to liability. Most of the causes listed above involved a parent suing the school system on their child’s behalf. Teachers and other employees of a school district may also have cause to sue: Improper Discharge of a Teacher: A teacher ...

What are the laws that protect against discrimination?

Below are the federal laws that protect against discrimination, and the categories they seek to protect: 1 Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: This law prohibits discrimination against people based on their race, color or national origin (country they are from). 2 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): This law prohibits discrimination against people who qualify as having a disability under the Act. 3 Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972: Specifically prohibits discrimination based on sex. Some courts have interpreted this to include discrimination based on gender/gender identity. Sexual harassment is also a type of discrimination based on sex. 4 Religious Discrimination: Although this is not explicitly listed in the above-mentioned federal laws, students are free to practice their religion. Also, the religious discrimination a student experiences is likely to occur along with discrimination based on national origin, which is actionable.

What is federal law?

Discrimination: Federal law protects against discrimination. This includes discrimination that occurs in public schools. A person may be discriminated against based on their sex, race, national origin and disability, to name a few.

Can a school district be sued?

Individual employees within a school district can be sued. School districts can sometimes be held vicariously liable for their employees who were involved in the behavior leading to the lawsuit. The following are commonly named as defendants in a school lawsuit: Individual school employees.

Is sexual harassment a form of discrimination?

Some courts have interpreted this to include discrimination based on gender/gender identity. Sexual harassment is also a type of discrimination based on sex. Religious Discrimination: Although this is not explicitly listed in the above-mentioned federal laws, students are free to practice their religion.

How to file a lawsuit against a school district?

In most cases, you must work with the school district to resolve any problems before you can file a lawsuit. Check the district's website and look for a phone number or address you can use to file a complaint.

How long does it take to sue a school?

In most cases, if you're going to sue a public school, you must first send the school or school district a notice of intent to sue and give them an appropriate amount of time to respond, typically 30 days. Many school districts have a form you can use for your notice of intent to sue.

Who is Jennifer Mueller?

Jennifer Mueller is an in-house legal expert at wikiHow. Jennifer reviews, fact-checks, and evaluates wikiHow's legal content to ensure thoroughness and accuracy. She received her JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006.

Can you sue a school for a violation of the law?

The cause of action is your reason for suing the school. You can only sue the school if you can point to something the school did that violated the law. This can be difficult with public schools because they are considered part of the government, and are immune from many lawsuits.

Can you sue a school for negligence?

For example, if your child falls down and gets injured in the lunchroom, you typically can't sue the school. Schools can't be sued for simple negligence.

Can you use photos as evidence?

You may not have some types of evidence, but know how to get them. For example, if the incident occurred in view of a security camera, you can ask that the footage be taken from the camera and analyzed. Photos or diagrams of the part of the school where the incident took place also can be used as evidence.

Examples of School District Cases

Many school district cases involve negligence on the part of school board officials or school administrators. Regularly, these and other parties fail to properly supervise students and the school district employees tasked with serving them. In a toxic school environment, students may fall victim to many forms of suffering.

Choosing the Right Lawyer to Sue School Districts

Today's school districts are aware of the risk of legal action. In fact, many possess formidable representation. However, don’t let this discourage you from pursuing legal action. With the right lawyer in your corner, you can hold school districts accountable for their failure to protect your children and their peers.

Why Morgan & Morgan?

Since school districts tend to have daunting legal representation on their side, when it comes to holding these districts accountable, size matters. All law firms are not the same. Morgan & Morgan has more than 700 attorneys nationwide fighting for the rights of victims.

How long does it take to file a claim against a school district?

Generally, a person who wishes to file a claim against a school district must file a claim within 6 months for claims which are for: Personal injury, Wrongful death, or. Damage to personal property. The time limit may be extended in certain limited circumstances.

What is the California tort claim law?

The rules a person must follow for suing a public school are outlined in the California Tort Claims Act. The act sets forth specific guidelines that a person must abide by for his or her injury claim to be successful.

What is sovereign immunity?

Sovereign immunity means that certain public entities, including public school districts, are immune from lawsuits for injuries caused by them or their employees. 4 The concept originates from England, and has been around for centuries. Every state in the country now has a sovereign immunity law of some variation.

Can a school district reject a claim?

The school district may reject the claim; The school district may ask for more information and allow for an amendment of the claim; or. The school district may reject the claim if it is untimely. School districts typically deny all claims, whether by answering with a denial or allowing the 45 day period to lapse.

Can you sue a school district?

Filing a lawsuit against a school district is not easy. Districts enjoy immunity from certain types of lawsuits, but depending on the facts of your case you can still file suit to obtain financial compensation. These can cover your child’s: Medical bills, Loss of income (if your child has a job),

What is school bullying?

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has settled on a similar definition of school bullying: “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance” that is repetitive or poses the possibility of repetition.

What is bullying law?

The definition of bullying varies from state to state, but the term generally refers to physical, mental or verbal acts by a student to intimidate, harass or otherwise harm another student. It’s an all-too-common phenomenon, and it can have devastating consequences.

Why do schools have a duty of care?

Because children are the primary users of school premises, school districts have a heightened duty of care to create a safe environment. When they fail to carry out this duty, seeking an attorney for school bullying claims can help you bring them to justice.

How did Mallory Grossman die?

The crushing effects of bullying at school can be seen in the story of Mallory Grossman, a 12-year-old New Jersey girl who died by suicide in 2017. Mallory was tormented by classmates for months, including harassment through texts and social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. Her tormentors repeatedly bombarded her cell phone ...

Did Mallory's parents report bullying?

Her parents said that they repeatedly reported the bullying to school officials, but the parents did not see adequate steps taken to stop the abuse. Mallory’s mom and dad even pleaded with the parents of one of the tormentors, who seemed to dismiss their concerns.

What is teasing in bullying?

Teasing refers to conduct or comments designed to make fun of or provoke the target. While teasing can become bullying, several factors differentiate bullying from day-to-day teasing. Teasing can rise to the level of bullying behavior if it includes these factors: Aggressive tone.

Is bullying a new practice?

While bullying is not a new practice, harassing acts that might have been tolerated in prior times are no longer acceptable. Bullying often occurs when a child is harassed and educators or parents fail to come to the victim’s aid or to take control and prevent future abuse or mistreatment.

Donald G. Henslee

Public schools are generally immune from suits for damages caused by injury. You may or may not, however, still have a cause of action against the school district depending on the district's responsive actions and existing knowledge of the situation. This is a complex area of law.

Ross Brenton Russell

This sounds like perhaps a Personal Injury attorney, or even a general Civil Litigation attorney would work in this case. Either way, you need a lawyer that "goes to trial" and not a lawyer that has a reputation as someone who settles too quickly or "rolls over" for the other side when pressure is applied. I hope this helps...

What to do if your child is being harassed by a teacher?

If your child has been the victim of harassment or abuse by a teacher or other school employee, consider consulting a lawyer. A lawyer with experience in a field like personal injury, education law, or civil rights should be able to give you practical advice about stopping the behavior.

Why do teachers bully students?

When teachers bully students because of their sex, disability, race, or national origin, the harassment is a form of illegal discrimination in public schools. In that case, the parents might be able to sue the school under the federal Civil Rights Act of 1871 (42 U.S.C. § 1983) for violating their constitutional right to equal protection.

What is the Supreme Court ruling on Title IX?

The U.S. Supreme Court has set a high bar for successful Title IX lawsuits. In order to win damages for a teacher’s sexual harassment, a student must show that a school official: did so little about the misconduct that the response amounted to “deliberate indifference.”. ( Gebser v.

Can teachers use force?

But most of those states have exceptions that allow teachers and other school employees to use physical force in certain situations, usually when it's needed to prevent physical injury or property damage. Still, if teachers use excessive discipline or force that leads to serious injuries, they could face civil lawsuits.

Can a school district sue you for sexual harassment?

If a teacher or other school employee has sexually harassed or abused your child, you might be able to sue the school district based on a violation of a federal law known as Title IX. That law says any educational program that receives federal funds—all public schools and most private schools—may not discriminate “on the basis of sex.” Sexual harassment is a form of sex-based discrimination. It includes comments or behavior of a sexual nature, unwanted sexual advances, or sexual assault or coercion. The U.S. Department of Education has also made it clear that Title IX prohibits harassment based on gender, including any unwelcome conduct based on a student’s actual or perceived sex, gender identity, or gender expression.