Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District: Academic Achievement & Students with Disabilities

Stu Stuller’s practice emphasizes appellate practice, litigation, constitutional law, employment discrimination, and education law. He regularly appears before both state and federal appellate courts and has played a substantial role in more than thirty cases that resulted in published decisions. His advocacy has helped established controlling precedents in First Amendment law, Fourth Amendment law, peer sexual harassment, teacher dismissal procedures, and state constitutional law.

Mr. Stuller has published articles on the subjects of education and constitutional law in scholarly and professional journals. He has taught education law at his alma mater, the University of Colorado School of Law, and presented lectures on education law and constitutional issues at state and national attorney conventions. He has been named a Best Lawyer in America and a Super Lawyer multiple times.

Mr. Stuller was part of the team that represented Douglas County School District in the recent Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District case.

An accomplished clinical teacher and litigator, William Koski (PhD ’03) is the founder and director of the law school’s Youth and Education Law Project (YELP). He and the students in the law project have represented hundreds of disadvantaged children and their families in educational equity, disability rights and school reform matters. Professor Koski and YELP are currently representing more than 60 students from across California in the path-breaking Robles-Wong v. California lawsuit that seeks to reform California’s dysfunctional and insufficient K-12 public school finance system.

Reflecting his multidisciplinary background as a lawyer and social scientist, Professor Koski’s scholarly work focuses on the related issues of educational accountability, equity and adequacy; the politics of educational policy reform; and judicial decision making in educational policy reform litigation. Professor Koski’s current research concentrates on the normative case for and policy implications of ensuring equality of educational opportunity in the current context of educational standards, adequacy and accountability.

Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2001, Professor Koski was a lecturer in law at Stanford and a supervising attorney at the law school’s East Palo Alto Community Law Project. He was also an associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and then Alden, Aronovsky & Sax.

Professor Koski has an appointment (by courtesy) with the Stanford School of Education.

Kara Kapp is a senior associate in the Commercial Litigation Department and White Collar Defense Practice at Cozen O'Connor. Ms. Kapp earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she served as a Symposium Editor of the Stanford Law Review and received multiple awards for her service. After law school, Ms. Kapp served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Bruce D. Black of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico and to the Honorable Edward L. Chavez of the New Mexico Supreme Court. Ms. Kapp earned her undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 2006.

Ms. Kapp is experienced in briefing trial and appellate matters before the federal district courts, appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Ms. Kapp has represented providers of tutoring and supplemental education services in complex matters as well as the National Association of State Directors of Special Education as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court.

Mr. Robinson is a partner and co-founder of Spies, Powers & Robinson. His primary practice areas are Special Education and Disability Law, Construction Litigation, Complex Commercial Litigation, Appellate Advocacy, Insurance Coverage, and First and Third-Party Insurance Defense.

Mr. Robinson has developed a reputation as a strong legal advocate for the rights of children with disabilities. He is a frequent lecturer throughout Colorado on the application and construction of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Mr. Robinson has represented clients in numerous due process proceedings, appeals, civil actions, mediation, and Federal Complaints. Mr. Robinson is currently pursuing a case before the Unites States Supreme Court, Endrew F. v. Douglas County Sch. Dist., that seeks to clarify and improve the rights of children with disabilities to a free and appropriate public education.

Mr. Robinson’s commercial litigation practice focuses upon contract disputes, non-competition agreements, trade secrets and amusement park/premises liability. He also has an active appellate practice and has appeared before the Colorado Court of Appeals, the Colorado Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on numerous occasions.

Mr. Robinson has developed an expertise in the area of complex insurance coverage analysis. In cultivating this specialty, Mr. Robinson has supervised claim investigations, taken Examinations Under Oath, authored coverage opinions and advised in all manners of insurance claim determinations. Mr. Robinson’s insurance coverage expertise involves questions regarding construction defect, personal and advertising injury liability, employee dishonesty, business interruption, excess and umbrella coverage, and complex property coverage issues. This experience encompasses service as a consulting expert and the post-litigation defense of claim denials with attendant allegations of bad faith. Mr. Robinson is a frequent lecturer on these topics throughout the insurance industry.