| It is imperative that school administrators and teachers have a great understanding of federal statutes and court cases regarding attorneys' fee awards in special education litigation. The appropriate steps may fail to be taken if both parties involved lack the understanding of the statutes. Knowledge of special education hearings and case law allows administrators to judge the facts of current situations against those that have preceded it. A thorough review of statutes and case law will provide that information.; This research is a qualitative study of special education litigation. A key number search was conducted by using West's Education Law Reporter. The court cases selected were derived from cases limited to the years 1982--2002 concerning attorneys' fee awards in special education litigation. The search was limited to public schools. The cases were briefed by the method outlined by W. P. Statsky and R. J. Wernet (1995).; The special education issue that occurred most frequently in cases in which parents sought reimbursement of attorneys' fees was student placement. Other issues that occurred frequently were (a) evaluation, (b) related services, (c) appropriateness of IEP, (d) extended school year, and (e) eligibility.; Guidelines were derived from the analysis of the court cases. It was the goal of the researcher to provide insight to school administrators and teachers concerning attorneys' fee awards in special education litigation. The guidelines are explained in chapter 5. |
