Top best Education Lawyers Near me in ZIP 91423

Sophia Bliziotis is a seasoned disability rights attorney. During the 15 years since she joined Vanaman German LLP, she has focused exclusively on advocating for the educational and civil rights of individuals with disabilities and their families. She has extensive experience helping families navigate conflicts with school districts and regional centers and has obtained consistently excellent results in due process and fair hearings. Sophia’s singular focus on working for people with disabilities and raising expectations for their access to and participation in all parts of our society has infused her practice of law with unique purpose and resolve.. Sophia is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a degree in English. While at Berkeley, she was a co-recipient of the President’s Undergraduate Fellowship, and with those funds she co-produced and directed a documentary about the homeless women of San Francisco reflecting her long-standing interest in social justice issues.. While living in Australia, Sophia decided to become an attorney. She began her legal studies at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. Upon her return to the United States, she received her J.D. from Southwestern Law School.. Her interest in social justice issues led her to the practice of special education/disabilities law. Sophia considers it a privilege to represent parents during the challenging process of obtaining what their child needs from either school districts or Regional Centers.. Sophia is a frequent presenter at continuing education programs for attorneys and educators on the topic of special education.. She wakes up each day grateful to have work that is meaningful and to work at Vanaman German LLP, with a group of compassionate, experienced, and highly effective colleagues.. Sophia is married to cinematographer Bruce Ready and they have one son, Luke.

My practice is devoted to advancing the educational rights of students with disabilities throughout California.  My primary areas of focus are special education due process and civil rights matters.  I have also won tens of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for students who have been harmed or abused while on campus.

My interest in Special Education law came about when my son was diagnosed with autism at the age of two years old. I spent the next several years as his personal advocate and attorney fighting to make sure that he received the services he needed. This experience made me realize that helping other children with disabilities get the services they needed was the best possible use of my law degree.. I strongly believe in access to justice for all children and offer low cost and no cost representation for clients who qualify.. On most weekends, I can be found coaching soccer. I’ve been a youth soccer coach for over a decade and have had the honor of coaching three different all-star teams with both of my daughters.. I am a proud member of COPAA.

Ms. Janeen Steel has 21 years of advocating on behalf of students with disabilities. She uses a variety of approaches to fight for justice for students. Having a learning disability herself, which was not diagnosed until she was 27 years old, she knows the struggle those with learning disabilities must experience in order to obtain an education. While at UCLA Law School, Ms. Steel founded Learning Rights and obtained an Echoing Green Fellowship in 1999 to start fighting for the rights of students with disabilities living in poverty. In 2005, Learning Rights Law Center was launched as a non-profit legal services organization, which Janeen served as the executive director for 8 years and co-executive director for seven years until April of 2021. In that 21 years, Janeen not only oversaw the organization, but was also lead or counsel on a variety of civil rights litigation and special education administrative proceedings. She has also taught special education law at a variety of Los Angeles universities, including Loyola Law School, University of Southern California Law School, University of California Los Angeles Law School, the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University, and the School of Education at Loyola Marymount. At Loyola, she taught legal ethics for school counselors and drafted curriculum for school administrators to ensure school principals were knowledgeable about special education law. She has also presented at numerous conferences as a keynote speaker and has received awards for her work.. In May of 2021, Ms. Steel joined the office of Vanaman German LLP, a boutique law firm with over 40 years of advocating for the rights of students with disabilities.. Ms. Steel earned her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 1999 and a B.A. from the California State University, San Francisco, in 1993.

Experienced Education attorney serving clients in Burbank and surrounding areas.

Experienced Education attorney serving clients in Burbank and surrounding areas.