About Us

Special education attorneys Lawrence Siegel and Michael Zatopa have been representing families of children with disabilities for over forty years. These decades of experience fostered a common philosophy of resolving disputes with public school districts as efficiently and quickly as possible. It also made clear the high cost and limitations of case by case legal disputes that often unnecessarily consume the resources that should be going to educate children, rather than fund the attorneys. In order to combat these inefficiencies, Larry and Mike decided to shift their expertise and work directly with organizations that serve disabled children, particularly students with mental illness, neurological and social disorders, children of color and those experiencing poverty. Together with these organizations, Larry and Mike will work to develop new strategies to allow children with disabilities to access appropriate public education with the financial support their families need.

Larry has an AB and MA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a JD from Hastings College of the Law. Since 1979 Lawrence Siegel has assisted and represented children with hearing or vision loss, learning and physical disabilities, autism and emotional difficulties, speech and language challenges, developmental delays, ADHD/ADD, and orthopedic and other disabling conditions. He is the author of numerous books and articles including The Human Right to Language, The Complete IEP Guide, and Least Restrictive Environment. He was appointed by the California Legislature to the Special Education Commission and presented with an Endowed Chair at Gallaudet University. Larry is a Fulbright Scholar Specialist (Stockholm University), has presented at a variety of conferences, has provided legal workshops for parents throughout the nation, has testified before the California and South Dakota Legislatures as well as a U.S. Congressional Committee, and has written and helped enact legislation throughout the United States. He has advised numerous local, state and national organizations, advised Gifu University (Japan) on their special education law and created and taught the Special Education seminar at Hastings College of the Law.

Larry is married and has two children; he enjoys reading, music, hiking and going out to dinner with his wife.

Mike graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1975, and from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1978. Mike was admitted to the California and Federal bars in 1978. From 1979 to 1982 he was a California special education hearing officer. He entered private practice in San Francisco in 1982, and since that time has represented and assisted thousands of parents of disabled and special needs children, and adults with developmental disabilities. His focus has been identifying the nature of their children's disabilities and accessing appropriate services and obtaining public provision and/or financial support for these services; he has also specialized in accessing residential treatment programs for seriously mentally ill and autistic children. Mike has provided legal counsel to many residential treatment facilities, private special education schools, and other private social service providers who are funded, licensed or regulated by public agencies.

Mike has lectured at Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco State University and California State University at Fresno. He has contributed to several books in the area of special education law, and written numerous articles in his field; and has been a certified trainer in the field of juvenile justice. Mike has also been board president for two non-profit corporations in the field of child welfare, as well as the chair of the Site Location and Strategic Planning committees as a board member of the San Francisco Waldorf School.

Mike is married with two adult sons; he enjoys biking, hiking and golfing, which he enjoys with his wife and long time law partner Ellen Stephens.

We first heard of Larry when we read his book, The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for your Special Education Child. When we discovered we might need legal assistance, he was the go-to lawyer everyone respected from both sides: families and even the school district. Advocating for our autistic daughter has been an emotional and challenging journey. Larry is an invaluable sounding board and an effective attorney. He provided us with a balanced approach and reasonable strategies toward navigating through the IEP process and dealing with the School District. He was overall the best advocate we could have ever hoped for! He’s empathetic, knowledgeable, personable and professional. We are grateful to have Larry on our team.

Janet & John

I had a positive experience working with Mike Zatopa and his team. They negotiated (no court time) with our district to help pay for a residential program for my autistic son. I found Mike (and his team) to be clear, quick to respond, and realistic. One of the things I appreciated the most is that Mike really knows the special education world well and he was very good at managing my expectations. He kept the cost to me as reasonable as possible while still getting the job done. It felt like he had our best interest while maintaining positive relationships with the district. This is a very delicate balance to navigate. As a parent, and a Marriage and Family Therapist, having peaceful, non-contentious negotiations feels vital to the health and well-being of our future relationships. I am very appreciative of this approach and the outcome. Thank you.

DT, MFT, parent of adolescent

Larry is an extraordinary advocate and human being….his National Deaf Education project represent both the most important advocacy work done in the last 30 years and the hope for future change.

Dr. Ronald Stern, Former Superintendent of the New Mexico School for the Deaf

Over the past year, Michael Zatopa has played a critical role in getting support for our daughter. We had worked with another special education attorney before who had racked up enormous legal costs but had not been able to secure appropriate support from the school district. In contrast, working with Michael Zatopa has been a very positive experience and we felt well guided through the process. His knowledge and experience translate into a very calm but firm approach. Through focused work he is determined to keep the expenses low without sacrificing support. Thanks to Michael the District was willing to settle and enable us to get the support our daughter needs. We would recommend Mr. Zatopa without hesitation.

RB & SP

We cannot thank you enough…it is clear from our daughter’s progress at her residential treatment center that this has literally saved her life….

Parents

The public school system doubted my capability of graduating with a High School Diploma and fortunately, I surpassed everyone’s expectations once I transferred to a school specializing in teaching students like me. I graduated with a high school diploma on time, in four years....I am so grateful for my parents and the Zatopa Group for stepping in and being my biggest advocates during one of the hardest times in my life. If there is anything I’d want you to know by reading my testimonial it is that there is hope and a lot of resources out there. My family and I learned about these resources once we worked with the Zatopa Group. Upon working with the Zatopa Group, I learned that learning does not have to be a painful experience.

Student

Lawrence Siegel and Michael Zatopa have been special education attorneys for over four decades and both practice a legal philosophy of resolving disputes as efficiently and quickly as possible, ever mindful of the limited resources of most families in the special education world.

Lawrence Siegel

Michael Zatopa

Testimonials