Practice Areas

Young, Minney & Corr, LLP’s student services team of attorneys is actively engaged in ongoing client counseling and development and maintenance of charter school preventative policies and procedures related to student rights, discipline, and health and safety.

YM&C Student Services attorneys work with you to strengthen and protect your policies and procedures governing student rights and discipline. We help charter schools comply with a variety of state and federal laws applicable to charter school students, providing both preventative counseling as well as litigation support for claims involving alleged due process and civil rights violations. We regularly provide workshops and training on the suspension and expulsion process, search & seizure, civil rights, and managing disruptions on school grounds.

Services

YM&C attorneys can help you navigate difficult student and parent-related situations, develop strategies to avoid liability, create effective defenses to litigation and strengthen your educational programs. These include, but are not limited to: 

Student Rights & Discipline Specialists:

YM&C attorneys have extensive knowledge of state and federal special education laws, the relationship between a charter school and its authorizer as relates to the delivery and funding of special education instruction and related services, the transition to operating as an LEA and member of a SELPA, and defense of claims under the IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

YM&C attorneys aggressively defend charter schools against claims brought under the IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.  Additionally, we are experts at preventive counseling in IDEA and Section 504 compliance, assisting charter schools in understanding legal requirements and developing and maintaining legally compliant policies and procedures for students with disabilities. YM&C is an industry leader in negotiating agreements between charter schools and authorizers related to special education service delivery and funding and preparing applications for SELPA membership.  We regularly provide workshops and training on the IDEA and Section 504, with a specific focus on charter schools engaging in the best practices for lawfully supporting and addressing the needs of disabled students.

Services

YM&C attorneys can help you navigate difficult public education situations and develop strategies to avoid liability, create effective defenses to litigation and strengthen your educational programs for students with disabilities. These include, but are not limited to: 

Special Education Specialists:

Finding the right facility for your school for lease or purchase, or even building your school facility, is a complicated and detail-oriented process with many potential pitfalls. YM&C attorneys are very experienced in a wide variety of real estate transactions. They are knowledgeable about more general laws applicable to facilities and legal issues unique to charter schools (for example, ensuring eligibility for SB 740 and negotiating facilities use agreements with school districts). In addition, once your charter school has selected its facility, YMC attorneys have many years of experience in assisting with advice on facility construction, bidding, prevailing wage, public works requirements, and maintenance of school facilities. As a result, YMC attorneys can help you navigate all the different issues you need to think about and address as you seek a facility for your charter school and then occupy that facility in the years to come.

In addition, YMC has advocated for the rights of many charter schools in the area of Prop. 39, and has successfully litigated several cases that have fundamentally improved the rights of charter schools in Prop. 39 (including Ridgecrest v. Sierra Sands School District and Meadows Art and Technology Elementary School v. Conejo Valley Unified School District).

Services

Our charter defense team provides timely and detailed assistance in the following areas:

Facilities Specialists:

YM&C is proud to offer the state’s most experienced attorneys in charter development. Our clients are new petitioners, renewing schools, and growth-minded CMOs. We work with our clients at all stages of the development and renewal process, including charter drafting, charter review, evaluation of relevant authorizer board policies, attendance at authorizer public hearings and decision meetings, and appeals if necessary. We provide targeted, individualized, and timely advice based upon our substantial statewide perspective, blended with our tailored local knowledge; our expertise in charter development is unparalleled.

Services

Our school development team works within your timelines to provide services in the following areas:

School Development Specialists:

Liability Litigation

YM&C’s team of experienced litigators and trial attorneys is committed to providing clients with the highest quality legal services and achieving efficient, cost-effective resolutions of litigated disputes. Our attorneys abide by strict standards of practice to ensure consistent, superior service.

We care deeply about our clients and are committed to their success. As a result, we work hard to build long-term, positive, and rewarding relationships with our clients and insurers.

Services

Charter School Litigation

YM&C has been representing California charter schools in litigation matters since the inception of the Charter School Act in 1992. Our team is highly regarded in the legal community and has successfully represented charter schools at all levels of California state and federal courts and in mediations, arbitrations, and administrative hearings. YM&C has been involved in almost all seminal court cases shaping the legal landscape for charter schools.

In addition to the litigation services above…