Katherine Gerland

Kate Gerland - focuses on enforcing the rights of parents and children under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. ​ Ms. Gerland also represents students in manifestation determination, suspensions, and expulsion hearings. She counsels parents on special education law and handles administrative hearings and appeals. In Elizabeth E. v. Jefferson County School Dist. her clients won five straight victories from due process through the petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court. Ms. Gerland, alongside attorneys from Holland and Hart, represented Ebonie and her mother in Ebonie S. v. Pueblo School Dist. 60. The school district designed and built special desks with locking bars to restrain students with disabilities including Ebonie. The litigation lasted for over eight years—from the initial due process hearing through the jury trial in federal court that resulted in a $2.2 million dollar verdict for Ebonie. Prior to discovering special education law, Ms. Gerland has been a teacher in both preschool and law school.