The Special Education Bar

This Article reports on a qualitative research study of lawyers in the Chicago area who represent families with disabled children in special education cases. The research consists of structured interviews of selected attorneys concerning their backgrounds and motivation, how they prepared for the practice, how their workplaces are organized, how the lawyers manage financially, how they select clients and pursue their cases, what relationship they have with local and national organizations of individuals with disabilities, what obstacles to success they face in their practice, and what their job satisfaction is. The research builds on a study conducted in 2022–23 concerning special education cause lawyers. That study entailed semi-structured interviews of prominent lawyers in different parts of the country who advance families’ legal claims for special education and related services with the purpose of effecting systemic change. The research also builds on landmark studies of the Chicago Bar conducted a generation ago by social science researchers. The present study finds that the lawyers studied have varied backgrounds, largely share a motive to be of service and advance the educational rights of children with disabilities, and have a range of advocacy styles and modes of practice. Although they face practical and doctrinal obstacles in pursuing their work, they report strong satisfaction in what they do and what they achieve.