COPAA recently filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court arguing that parents have the right to represent themselves in IDEA cases. COPAA's brief was filed in support of a petition for certiorari in Winkelman v. Parma City School District on April 7, 2006. The Winkelmans are also from Cleveland.

It is COPAA's position that when pro se parents are denied the right to appeal adverse administrative decisions to court, the rights granted through the IDEA are rendered meaningless except for parents who can afford legal counsel. True access to justice requires much more than having the ability to pay for a lawyer or to find a lawyer who will work pro bono. The right to represent oneself is deeply ingrained in U.S. jurisprudence and predates the Constitution. Many parents are forced to proceed pro se because they have no money or have run out of money during the litigation and are unable to pay for a lawyer whose fees for a federal court appeal can easily exceed $10,000.

There is a severe shortage of lawyers who take special-education cases for parents, as the Third Circuit recognized in Collinsgru v. Palmyra Board of Education, 161 F.3d 225, 229 (3d Cir. 1998). This leaves many parents unable to obtain IDEA counsel.

COPAA does not believe that parents who represent themselves in court or hearings are engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. Congress created rights in the IDEA for both children with disabilities and their parents, because children are uniquely reliant upon their parents to enforce their rights. The rights between parents and children are overlapping and inseparable.

The issue in the Woods case in Cleveland was the right of parents to represent themselves pro se in federal court. The Cleveland Bar Association had not challenged their right to represent themselves in due process hearings. COPAA, of course, believes that parents should be able to do both.

COPAA's position statement on the right of parents to proceed pro se in IDEA cases

COPAA's amicus curiae brief filed in the Winkelman case ( PDF, 21 pgs, 544 KB).

The Cleveland Bar Association President has noted that Bar Association will undertake to find a way to increase pro bono representation. COPAA encourages them to do so, to help protect the civil rights of students with disabilities in Ohio. A copy of the Bar Association's letter can be read here ( PDF, 1 pg, 84 KB).

(*PDFs require Acrobat Reader for viewing. If you don't have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can download a copy for free.)