Daniel T Heffernan

Daniel Heffernan's expertise and professional demeanor made an extremely trying legal situation seem manageable. His understanding of special education law allowed for us to position our case in the best light as we moved through the process. His role was pivotal in our achieving the desired outcom...e for our family and we are thankful for his insight. We strongly recommended him for any family who is dealing with a challenge in the special education system.

Dan has represented us for the past three years in connection with our child's special education needs. His knowledge of a highly technical area of the law is very impressive, and his relationships and credibility with BSEA officials and opposing counsel are invaluable in obtaining the best result p...ossible. He also is very candid and realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of a case and gave us a very accurate assessment of it from the outset. I am a lawyer myself, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Dan to others and likely will use him again. And, finally, he's just a terrific guy who really understands what his clients are going through - you will feel lucky to have a great person and lawyer on your side.

Dan was extremely successful in helping us in mediation with our school district. We have a son with special needs that was not being serviced appropriately in district. We initially exhausted all our own resources in attempting to get our son the most appropriate educational setting to meet his co...mplex special needs. Unfortunately we had to hire an attorney. Dan stepped in on our behalf and ultimately helped us reach a settlement with the school district. Dan was extremely knowledgeable as well as compassionate to us as clients. He really understands the complexity of children with special needs and what families face every day. Our son is in the right setting and thriving because of the help Dan provided us. We highly recommend Dan and thank him for all his hard work in getting us to a better place as a family.

Attorney Heffernan worked with my wife and I when we were disputing out of district placement for our disabled children. Attorney Heffernan makes us feel as if we are his only client, He is extremely dedicated. By him being our attorney our children are now placed out of district and are thriving ...more and more each day. He continues to work with us reagrding the children's IEP's. Attorney Heffernan is very professional and knowledgeable.

Our case was unusual, pertaining to Special Education Law, and a situation that transpired in our child's classroom. These circumstances netted us filing a claim against our school district. Our situation involved two other families. Dan came highly recommended from an education advocate we had us...ed previously. Dan was at the helm of our situation, which ultimately spanned over a four year period. There were several unsuccessful attempts at mediation. Dan's experience and superb guidance, carried us beyond that process, always with our child's best interest in the forefront of every decision we were faced with making. Three days before our hearing, Dan defended a counterclaim in Federal Court for us. He successfully won that round for us, too. He was praised by the judge presiding for his superior knowledge regarding special education law. The itricacies of our case required thoughtful, solid decision making, as well as the ability to 'read between the lines', and think ahead, long term. We ultimately settled in the eleventh hour, prior to a scheduled five day hearing in our home town was ready to begin. There were expert witnesses poised to speak on our child's behalf; some from out of state. Looking back, there were precedents made. Dan's ability to interpret the Law as it pertained to my child was like nothing I have ever seen. Sometimes it frustrated me, as I was more inclined to make decisions in a "reactive" state, rather than methodical. Emotions were in the forefront of the better part of the entire process for me. Dan accepted that , and worked hard. He spoke to me a lot through the process. He returned all of my calls. Our case is still talked about amongst attorneys from Boston to Cape Cod and beyond. Our child was so well protected, having Dan representing us. There is no question in my mind, that we made the right decision in calling Dan Heffernan. Sometimes I wonder what 'could' have transpired, had we used someone with less experience and capability. I am so glad we didn't.