"What Is the Benefit of Private Counsel"

Notwithstanding the fact that the unions provide a “free” lawyer, for more than two decades, as private counsel, I have been representing teachers and supervisors who have been targeted for termination by various school districts.  My practice in this area has virtually consumed all my available time. I recognize that as supervisors and teachers you have a significant investment in your tenured position that, over the course of a lifetime, that position is worth several million dollars in pay and benefits.A finding of guilt, in addition to being career ending, may affect your ability to procure future employment or work around children.

I rarely settle cases.  If I determine that a teacher has been intentionally and unfairly targeted for termination I most certainly refuse to settle insisting that the matter be litigated. Settling such cases gives the administration a leg up in its campaign to rid the school of the teacher as right after settlement, the supervisor begins the campaign where he or she left off. In those instances I strive to place the administration on trial showing that if the supervisors have done an appropriate job of supervision, the teacher wouldn’t have failed. Moreover, in each and every case I try on behalf of teachers and supervisors, I prepare the record for appeal taking advantage of mistakes made by the school districts in supervising,  charging investigating,  and litigating the issues,  and equally important,  failing to follow the district’s own rules and regulations or due process procedures.

The most common cases of targeting teachers and supervisors involve either (1) false accusations of verbal abuse or corporal punishment (2) age discrimination where, after years of satisfactory performances, a pedagogue is suddenly unsatisfactorily rated.  In these cases, few lawyers seem to understand that the supervisor is on trial as his or inability to enable the teacher to succeed by proper supervision is a reflection of their own failure. When the inadequacies in supervision are intentional it can usually be proven that the supervisor has done lip service to his or her commitment to properly supervise. In many of these instances an expert on supervision is required, and I do not hesitate to call one in to explain to hearing officers who usually have no other individual to turn to at the hearing but the supervisor who is testifying on behalf of the school district.

I also frequently use another lawyer as second chair particularly when the case is document intensive.  At the end of the trial or hearing, I rarely consent to oral closing statements but spend inordinate hours preparing a trial memorandum reviewing the transcriptual a record and setting forth the applicable law.

In addition, you should know that I have served for several years as an elected school board member and fully understand the many machinations that often occur and place an educator's career in jeopardy.

I believe that the intense preparation and individual attention accounts for my high rate of success in preventing termination of employment.  I have amassed a library of research relative to the issues of due process and sufficiency of evidence.  All of these resources are placed at your disposal when you retain me.

Wolf & Wolf LLP
910 Grand Concourse, Suite 1F, Bronx, NY 10451