April Kelly Neal

Ms. Neal graduated high school from Johnson County, Georgia in 1985 and she has a degree in business administration. She is a proud 2005 graduate of John Marshall Law School in Atlanta where she attended school at night while working full-time with the Social Security Administration’s Office of Hearings Operations. Ms. Neal continues to take nealy all of her continuing legal education in education related law and is a 2018 graduate of the William and Mary Law School’s Instute of Special Education Advocacy. She has participated in the Pacific Northwest Instutite of Special Education Law as well as the Special Education Symposium at Leigh University. She has a 20 year career with the Social Security Administration’s Office of Hearings Operations and she retired January 2024 to launch her own law firm Neal Student Support Advocacy & Disability, LLC.

Ms. Neal found her passion for eduction law after her son’s diagnosis of autism and later her daughter’s diagnosis of dyslexia. Her children were not getting the appropriate supports, accommodations, and services they needed to succeed academically. Ms. Neal knew things had to change when the only qualified attorneys she found in the area of education law represented school systems and not parents or students.

Ms. Neal is a member of the Georgia Bar’s Child Protection and Advocacy Committee, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), and GeorgiaCAN. She has hosted the Wrightslaw Special Education Law & Advocacy Conference in Georgia three times and volunteers with Georgia Legal Services Program representing students in education matters. Ms. Neal’s mission is to inform the public of their rights as it relates to education in Georgia so that public education is better for everyone.