TESTIMONIALS
Special Education Law needs to be very personal. It’s about children and their families.
As a mother of 2 very different children, your special education team becomes an extension of who you are. They help you create your children’s education plan and they also help you plan for how your child can and should be independent as adults. When I first met Maria, my younger son who has a range of comorbidities including ASD, a Speech and Language Learning Disability, Feeding Disorder, ADHD and more was in danger at school. Maria gave me road map for success. This included both school and supplemental afterschool services which were necessary for my son’s education plan to be successful. When my older son’s situation became dire, Maria was on it. He is a 2E student with NVLD, ADHD, and more. Maria knew the system from both inside and out and and the players we needed to work with. Maria is not only an excellent attorney and a former special education teacher, but she is a parent herself. She has seen it all and she isn’t afraid to share her wealth of knowledge, experience and compassion with you. Today both of my kids are in supportive educational programs and are making strides and Maria has been an integral part of their success.
Mother of 2 children
Susan Wagner, Esq is a savvy and compassionate legal advocate to whom I consider myself and my daughter fortunate to have received legal counsel and advocacy services. Sue skillfully combines her experience, expertise, and down to earth mentality — making you as a parent feel at ease — knowing you have her in your child and family’s corner. She prepares you as a parent and advises you how to navigate the process so you are prepared at each step along the way. Sue Wagner successfully negotiated three consecutive years’ settlements with my city’s department of education legal team – which led to full reimbursement of my daughter’s specialized schooling for her language based learning disability. As both a parent and a pediatrician, I wholeheartedly recommend her legal services and counsel to other parents who are navigating the specialized educational world and needing a skilled legal advocate. i am forever grateful for Sue as an educational attorney who with and her team’s work – helped ensure that my daughter receive the appropriate education for her dyslexia.
Parent and pediatrician
Maria has been my son’s lawyer for the past 13 years. When she first began representing us, my son was 7 years old and his public-school had expelled him. My son who has been diagnosed with ASD, apraxia and a seizure disorder had nowhere to go. From that very moment and every moment since, Maria has been there for our family helping us navigate evaluations, private school placement, after-school PROMPT speech therapy and so much more. Many of our cases have resulted in extremely favorable settlements with the DOE. In the years that we had to litigate the case, Maria was prepared, thorough and presented our case exceptionally well. More importantly, she kept me calm. She explained every step and I knew that I could trust her to take care of our case and take care of us. She is incredibly smart and fierce, but she is also incredibly kind and has a tremendous heart. She really cares about our family. She has delivered us excellent results in the courtroom, in settlements and has made this very difficult process extremely easy on our family. I wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone looking for a special education lawyer.
Mother of 20 year old son.
Maria McGinley has been my attorney for almost ten years and her value is indescribable. As a mother of two boys with autism, with wildly different profiles and equally varying needs, it is critical to have an attorney who sees each child not only for who they are and the immense potential they have, but understands how crucial the right program and services are to have the best chance to reach this potential. Maria never gives up. She is not only on your team, she is the coach you need. She is responsive, strategic and thoughtful as well as kind and empathetic. Having a unique background of spending many years in the classroom makes her incredibly well prepared as she knows the playing field from both sides. I could not recommend her more emphatically. She is simply the best.
Mother 2 boys with Autism
I have worked with a variety of attorneys through the years and Maria is among the best. She is diligent, dedicated and she truly cares about her clients. As a provider, she is thorough and very easy to work with. Our mutual clients have always been very pleased with the knowledge, guidance and overall support she provides.
Cristiane Bertone, M.S.Ed., BCBA, LBA
Behavioral Solution
Maria worked with our family for many years. Initially our son was enrolled in a special education private school and was receiving intensive after-school ABA instruction. Maria helped us secure pendency based on his CPSE IEP. She secured multiple settlements where the DOE paid for his school tuition as well as his after-school services. When we had to litigate his case, she won everything we requested. As he got older, his behaviors intensified and we recognized that he needed even more support. Maria not only provided us the legal guidance we needed to go through the residential process, but she also spoke with us regularly to provide general support. She helped us secure a residential program that the DOE and the state fund directly. Maria’s approach is creative and extremely supportive – something that I definitely needed going through the residential process. She achieved the results we needed at every turn and we really felt like she protected our son and our family. I strongly recommend Maria’s representation to any family going through the imperial hearing process or any family seeking a residential program for their child.
NYC parent
As parents of four children with special needs it’s safe to say we’ve had extensive experience with education attorneys. We’ll look for only two things: caring and competence. Susan and Maria go far beyond, they take so much time and care to not only prepare themselves but also to prepare us for what’s ahead. They’re dedicated and personally invested in the success to get our children the services they need to reach their full potential.
Parent 4 children
