Contacting an attorney (for something other than our will) was surreal to me.  I was a little intimidated, especially after what Kristina told me about her.  But this is exactly the kind of person we want on our side, hands down.  I emailed her and basically told her in the second sentence that I had never contacted an attorney before and so I didn’t know protocol or anything like that.  I’m sure that her policies and procedures are very similar to most attorneys out there.  So if nothing else, by reading this you can learn what to expect when you contact an attorney.  What I won’t be sharing is the details of the case, to protect ourselves from anything that may happen in the future.  If you have specific questions, you can email me.  What I wanted was for her to send the district a letter…like a threat.  If only it were that easy!

She sent me her contract of agreement and that in and of itself was 6 pages! I read through everything.  I even forwarded it to my aunt, who is also an attorney.  I wanted to make sure everything sounded legit.  With the signed contract and the retainer fee, she also requested all documentation from the last 2 years. Due process prohibits any claims beyond 2 years.  In total, I sent her 300+ pages of documentation (keep everything, my friends!) that was organized by year.  So in 2009-2010, Emma was in KG.  Within that section I had progress reports, report cards, IEPs, IEP addendum’s, evaluations, therapy progress reports, and anything else that might pertain to her education.  I bound them with paper clips (the individual documents) then put all the progress reports in a multi-page protector, and repeated with report cards, IEPs, etc.  It was bound in a 2″ black 3 ring binder.  Let me give you a hint, if it’s not obvious.  The more you do for your attorney (or advocate, or anyone you’ve hired to help you), the easier it will be for them to look through the documents, less time is spent searching for specifics, and therefore the less money you will pay.  Keep it organized.  She was appreciative of my efforts.

Within a week she had briefly glossed over the binder.  She knew what information she needed from me- alas there was more!  I ended up transcribing 4 meetings we had over the course of the spring and summer.  Most of these meetings averaged 2 hours long.  Props to any transcribers out there.  It’s tedious work.  Not to mention it stirred up all these emotions from the past few months and made them fresh again.  I spent many, many hours at the computer transcribing.  I was getting headaches from looking at the screen for too long.  It was not fun, it was not easy, but it was a part of the process to get Emma exactly what she deserved.  And a good lesson to me (and to YOU!!!)…record ALL of your meetings.  You will be happy you did, even if you never use them again.  To know I have every word spoken is a comfort.  I actually purchased a digital voice recorder app for my iPad and used that.  It’s called Recorder Pro and it is very inexpensive compared to actual digital recorders out there now.  And what’s great is when you get home, you can easily download the recording onto your desktop.  And that’s where mine sit in one nice folder.

Keep in mind this is all preparatory work.  Nothing had been said to anyone…no letters had been written…nothing had been filed with the courts.  Meanwhile, Emma was still recovering from her surgery.  She was still immobilized and we were carrying her everywhere she wanted to be.  It’s kind of a blur!  Mason was starting Kindergarten (at a different school in the district, mind you).  And along with Emma’s recovery was her impending return to school.  She wanted to go back so badly.  And she asked for the “new school.”  It was something we couldn’t ignore.  In the back of our minds was the rule that once due process was filed, the students could not change schools under any circumstance.  We took a risk and enrolled her in the private school.  We paid the hefty enrollment fee, as well as the first month’s tuition.  It was brutal on our checkbook, to say the least.

Once this process started, there was no turning back.

Doing arts and crafts on her jumbo bean bag, just a few days into her recovery.

I’m noticing that with my writing, I’m using “I” a lot.  Don’t let me mislead you…all these decisions were made jointly by Brett and myself.  While I did the majority of the legwork, any decision we made, we made together.  Always.  And again, I’m here to chronicle the experience, the journey, and to help people in our situation know what to expect when they make the first move to find legal help.  I will continue our Attorney Journey tomorrow!

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