Representing students with disabilities and their parents to obtain appropriate, accessible, and equitable education under special education, early intervention, and disability rights laws.
Expertise with the IDEA, Section 504, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and similar state laws.
Representing people with disabilities facing
initial guardianship proceedings or review hearings.
Expertise in cases involving disability discrimination,
accessibility, and access to services.
Contact me for a free consultation. For special education and other cases, my fee is paid by the other party if we are successful.
Kelly is an experienced litigator who has been practicing law for over 25 years. She was the legal director of Disability Rights Pennsylvania, representing families and adults with disabilities in a wide range of disability rights cases. Before that, she was a staff attorney at the Education Law Center, representing students in special education and other school matters. After law school, she clerked for a federal judge and then worked at a large international law firm in Philadelphia.
Kelly is a graduate of
The Ohio State University with a BS in psychology and a BA in political science. She received her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating cum laude and order of the coif.
Kelly lives in Wynnewood, PA with her three kids. As a parent, she has years of experience on IEP teams and navigating the early intervention and post-secondary transition process for her twins, who are neurodivergent.
Kelly has litigated disability rights cases and presented on these issues for over 20 years. Here is a sampling of her legal work and media coverage.
Kelly led a team in this class action to ensure that foster children with mental health disabilities received needed services in their homes and communities.
Kelly and colleagues litigated this case against the state Youth Development Centers to stop the abusive restraints and treatment of youth with disabilities, leading to a settlement designed for lasting reform.
Kelly and colleagues investigated allegations of abuse and neglect of autistic students in an elementary classroom in Bucks County. The report she and the team published led to reform and the removal of personnel.
Kelly and colleagues litigated this class action which provided Medicaid coverage for equipment like wheelchair ramps and lifts in Pennsylvania, the first case of its kind in the country.
Kelly presents often on decision-making for adults with disabilities and alternatives to guardianship.
Kelly and others filed a case to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities could get the services they needed to stay in their homes and not be forced into institutions.
Kelly represented the first Pennsylvanian parent to be sued by a school district for her special education advocacy for her son. The parent won her counterclaim that the school district retaliated against her.