In a second career, special education advocate wins Jack Berman Award
By Diane Curtis
The convergence of personal circumstances
and a progressive curriculum led to a 180-degree turn in Margaret Adams’
career.
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Adams |
A well-established commercial real
estate consultant, Adams decided to go to the University of San Diego School
of Law “to advance and do something a little bit different in real estate.”
But just as she was beginning her studies, the medical issues that had plagued
her younger daughter since infancy began showing themselves as serious learning
difficulties. At the same time, the law school was adding special education
to its legal clinics, and Adams got involved. Not long after, special education
law became her passion.
Now, three years after graduating
magna cum laude from USD’s law school, Adams, 50, is the recipient
of the California Young Lawyers Association 2004 Jack Berman Award of Achievement
for Distinguished Service to the Profession and the Public. The award, which
she received for her pro bono work in special education, goes to members of
the State Bar who are in their first five years of practice or age 36 or younger.
“I am absolutely thrilled,” said Adams, who now has a full-time
special education practice in San Diego. “I also was totally shocked.
This is a second career for me. I’ve only been a lawyer for two years,
so I was just honored to have been nominated, let alone receive it.”
The 12-year-old award was renamed
in 1994 for San Francisco lawyer Jack Berman, whose extensive pro bono work
earned him the admiration of colleagues and clients. Berman was killed in the
July 1993 mass shooting at 101 California Street.
In a letter to the award committee,
San Diego attorney Judith Cohen described Adams as a “community treasure”
who “displays a genuine and profound commitment to securing needed services
and supports through the public system and does so with grace and dignity.”
Another nomination document said Adams’ “dedication and expertise
have made a great difference in the lives of the children she has helped,”
noting that she provided 440 hours of service to improve access to special education
services for low-income children and juvenile court dependents in San Diego
County.
“Through community presentations,
she also has educated foster parents and social workers on how to advocate for
foster children in special education cases,” the nomination paper said.
“Without appropriate services, disabled children are at great risk for
dropping out of school, developing emotional and behavioral problems, and becoming
involved with the criminal justice system.”
Adams, who received a B.A. and
M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University in Texas and was made a member of
the Order of the Coif upon graduation from law school, can’t say enough
about the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program, through which she did her pro
bono work. The program offers pro bono legal advice and direct representation
assistance to the indigent in not only special education, but family law, domestic
violence prevention, AIDS law, guardianships, immigration and civil rights.
“They make it easy for private attorneys to participate,” said Adams.
“It’s a full-time program that manages attorneys.”
Adams said she has experienced
great satisfaction from her pro bono work because she can provide help to clients
who would not otherwise receive it. While she had a good experience with her
daughter’s schools, she knows the helplessness and frustration that can
come from bumping up against officials who are at odds with parents about what’s
best for their child. Many parents lack the time, money or education to advocate
from a position of strength for their learning-disabled child, whose needs can
range from one hour of individualized reading instruction during the normal
school to placement in a special school.
One of Adams’ most satisfactory
pro bono cases had to do with placing a teenage boy who read at a second-grade
level and suffered Attention Deficit Disorder, depression and behavioral problems.
Adams agreed to represent the boy at a due process hearing and added claims
for compensatory education. The case, on which she spent more than 100 hours,
was settled before trial, with the school agreeing to place the boy at a non-public
school that licenses with the state to provide special education. The boy’s
mother, Adams said, happily reports that her son is reading menus when they
go out to eat, something he wouldn’t even try before.
School districts are well meaning
but often underfunded and understaffed, Adams said. Still, she added, they have
an “affirmative duty” to provide an appropriate education for all
students. “If most of the children were identified early on — at
the first-grade level,” she said, “interventions could be quite
cost-effective and some students might exit special education. Oftentimes, schools
have a wait-and-see approach.”
Every child is unique, and that
makes her job especially interesting, she said. “This is just such a rewarding
practice area. As a second career, it’s just been wonderful.”
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