Leah Smith Email & Phone Number

Alameda, Ca

Specialization in education law, including special education, student discipline/student services, First Amendment issues, education policy, employee discipline, Board governance, sexual harassment and Title IX, FERPA, student data privacy, EEOC and OCR investigations, charter school issues (including charter petitions and facilities requests/responses), Public Records Act requests, inter and intradistrict transfers, and special education litigation.I advise and train clients regarding compliance with federal and state disability and education law, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. I represent school districts in all stages of special education due process hearings, including before administrative hearing bodies, as well as special education and Section 504 compliance complaints and appeals before the California Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights.In addition to providing in-depth services related to special education compliance and litigation, I counsel school districts regarding a variety of student issues, including student discipline, student speech, and student privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. I represent school districts in student expulsion hearings and appeals before County Boards of Education.I also advise and counsel on labor and employment matters for public agency clients, including employee discipline and human resources issues such as leaves and the interactive process for reasonable accommodations, governance issues including the California Brown Act, Public Records Act requests and conflicts of interest. I conduct workplace investigations and represent public employers in administrative hearings involving certificated employee layoffs. I regularly provide trainings for public agency clients on student issues, special education and 504 issues, mandated reporting, and Title IX.

Williamsburg, Va

Responsible for co-instruction and evaluation of practical lawyering skills and professional responsibility for a group of 30 first- and second-year law students including interviewing and problem solving skills, case development, legal research and writing, trial and appellate advocacy, and alternative dispute resolution through supervision of student representation of role player clients. Acted as liason between program faculty and students. Assisted in program evaluation and development, restructuring, and recruiting of new teaching assistants.

Williamsburg, Va

Law clerk responsibilities included: conducting legal research, drafting bench memos, oppositions to motions to suppress, expungements, findings of factual innocence, and motions to dismiss the information. Assigned to the drug court calendar, appeared before the court on city infraction matters, sentencing, appeals, weapons hearings, juvenile motions and suppression hearings.

Conducted legal research on youth intersex issues including surgeries, informed consent, immigration and international adoption, human research protections, medical standard of care, and administrative law for non-profit agency promoting the civil rights of children born with variations of sex anatomy. Drafted Freedom of Information Act requests, engaged in strategy sessions with attorneys, community activists, and bioethicists to form reaction to media exposure. Cite-checked legal memoranda, drafted articles for publication, and composed memoranda on sterilization law.

Oakland, Ca

Trained for and served a 300 hour, year-long commitment in self-help center of courthouse, providing legal and procedural assistance to self-represented litigants. Worked to improve access of legal services to underrepresented populations. Direct services provided included information and assistance with forms for family law, housing law, restraining orders and elder abuse, small claims. Conducted intake interviews at Homeless Court programs.

J.D., Law

Activities and Societies: Alternative Dispute Resolution Team- President, Children's Advocacy Legal Society, Legal Skills Teaching.

B.A., History

Major Concentration: African-American Race Relations High Distinction in General Scholarship Three-year recipient of the Cal Alumni Award.