Carla C. Leone, Attorney

Carla is a 1985 cum laude graduate of New England School of Law, Boston, and a St. Michael's College alumni, class of 1980. After graduating from law school in 1985, Attorney Carla Leone joined the practice of Congdon, Flaherty, O'Callaghan, Reid, Donlon and Travis in Garden City, NY, where she concentrated in civil litigation and appellate practice. Her responsibilities included handling numerous personal injury and property damage cases, with an emphasis upon negligence, products liability, environmental law, labor law (construction accidents) and insurance coverage issues. Attorney Leone also headed the firm's Appeals Group for several years, monitoring the progress of all appeals, and at the same time, she handled over twenty-five appeals in State and Federal Courts in their entirety, from filing of Notice of Appeal through argument. Additionally, Attorney Leone undertook representation of a software company for a protracted battle over copyright issues related to proprietary software.

Since 1993, Attorney Leone has been practicing law in Arlington, MA, focusing upon the areas of special education law, appellate law, civil litigation, bankruptcy law and contract law. In the past several years, she has become increasingly involved in representing children with disabilities who are not being provided with a free, appropriate public education. Her emphasis in this practice is to be a strong advocate for children, while bringing a constructive, collaborative approach to the table.

School Districts have a duty to provide a free, appropriate public education ("FAPE") to children with disabilities. The components of this education should be incorporated into an Individualized Education Plan ("IEP"). The United States Supreme Court has defined an appropriate education as one that is "reasonably calculated to confer meaningful educational benefit(s)". (However, Congress may have raised the standard for FAPE by language contained within No Child Left Behind and IDEA 2004.) The IEP must contain objective data, if available, which shows the child's current level of performance, and it must include goals which are both meaningful and measurable. While goals need to be realistic, Congress has stated that the Team must set high expectations for children with disabilities to make progress in the general curriculum (defined in Massachusetts by the Curriculum Frameworks, which can be found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/). Once an IEP is written, School Districts are required to implement the plan and provide proof of effective progress to Parents.

Unfortunately, the process can break down at numerous points, and Parents often need to proceed to Due Process Hearing in order to enforce their child's rights under state and federal laws, which provide for both substantive and procedural rights.

For instance, Parents are an important member of the Team which drafts the child's IEP. The law directs School Districts to highly respect Parental input and provides specific procedural protections to Parents. If Parental input is not given adequate consideration, and/or procedural protections are not complied with by the School District, the BSEA may find the School District in violation of the law. (Some examples of procedural violations are: failure to have classroom teacher present during Team Meetings; failure to give notice of Parents' rights; failure to give adequate notice of planned meetings; failure to give written notice of school district refusal to make changes to IEP requested by Parents; and failure to conduct evaluations within the timelines.)

Attorney Leone provides one-half hour of free initial consultation to potential clients and thereafter charges reasonable fees pursuant to a signed retainer agreement.

Personal Statement:

"I have a zealous approach to the practice of law, and will handle your case with meticulous care. Additionally, I am qualified to handle a wide range of civil litigation matters, and would be pleased to consult with you about your legal needs."

E-mail: Carla@LeoneLaw.com

Phone: 781-648-4006

Carla C. Leone, Esq.
637 Massachusetts Avenue
Arlington, MA 02476