Carla Congdon Leone

I am extremely satisfied with the representation I received from Carla. She spent the time to do a thorough history of our situation. She was able to quickly grasp the complexity our case and was able to assist with developing an effective plan of action. Her knowledge of Education law is exceptional... and her dedication to achieving the best possible outcome is commendable. She proactively engaged with the school at all the IEP meetings. Thoroughly reviewed the proposed IEP and made detailed recommendations. She truly went above and beyond for my child's best interest.

Carla has been a pleasure to work with. She takes the time to understand the entire situation, knows the law cold and has a wealth of experience. She knows the playing field and is very strategic in her thinking. We felt that she really does care about helping families, vulnerable children and yo...u could sense her genuine satisfaction at having a good outcome for our child. In the end, our child went from having been denied all services to having a full IEP. Truly life altering.

Carla Leone is an excellent lawyer to work with. We needed an advocate and a Special Education lawyer to help get our School District to provide FAPE for our child, and Carla was able to do both. She attended IEP meetings, and helped with the IEP. Her support and knowledge helped us better advocate f...or a more appropriate IEP for our child. She also helped resolve the other issue which was that the school district placement was not an appropriate placement for our child's educational needs. Carla filed a due process hearing with the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) to try and resolve this issue, which was complicated because it also involved the breach of a settlement agreement and the district won't even admit or talk about that breach. Litigation was the only option to get them to be held accountable. We made it clear that we will go through with due process at BSEA, then state court or Federal. Carla was clear and concise at explaining the entire process and what to expect like the strategic approach, the potential timeframes and litigation costs. Our School District is known for being difficult and for their delay tactics and unreasonable pushbacks. The District did stall for as long as they can possibly can...they even wanted us to agree to postpone the BSEA hearing because an agreement “is close” but we refused. They consistently delayed their responses so it took weeks of back and forth, trying to settle. They stalled up to the day and time of the Prehearing Date of our BSEA Case. The end result was a settlement agreement that we are happy with. We highly recommend Carla. She is experienced, professional, and outstanding at written and verbal communication: efficient, detailed, easy to comprehend, and tenacious.

Carla was professional, hardworking and at the core dedicated to the child she was representing. She cares deeply for the cause but represents the case efficiently, factually and confidently. She has been a pleasure to work with and truly understands educational law as well as the experience of par...ent and child.

Carla knows school law like no other! She assisted us in winning reimbursement for our child's tuition costs. Carla was thorough, informative, personable, in every way a part of our team in our settlement. In a case such as ours, I can't imagine someone better to work with - we're so fortunate to hav...e benefited from her knowledge and expertise!