Leona is Founder and Partner at Law Office of Leona Z. Goldshaw LLC (www.leonagoldshawlaw.com). Prior to founding her firm, Leona worked at Oberman & Yazno-Bartle LLC for six years. She represents students and their families from preschool to college when they face challenges in special education, school discipline, gifted education, test taking, accommodations, bullying, and other education matters in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She regularly negotiates with school districts to meet students’ needs, often finds creative solutions, and represents students and their parents in due process hearings when necessary. She recently won a groundbreaking case at a due process hearing and at appeal in federal court which directs Pennsylvania Intermediate Units to pay tuition at typical preschools (and provide transportation) when that child’s disability includes needs that must be fulfilled by attendance at a typical preschool. She brings to her practice more than eighteen years of experience pursuing legal excellence for her clients. Prior to practicing education law, she worked at a national law firm where she litigated complex commercial litigation matters in federal and state court. Leona served as a law clerk to the Honorable R. Barclay Surrick of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She graduated cum laude and Order of the Coif (top ten percent) from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2004. At Penn Law, Leona was honored to serve as an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Prior to attending law school, Leona advocated on behalf of immigrants seeking political asylum and victims of discrimination for six years in Philadelphia and New York for the Anti-Defamation League, the New York Immigration Coalition and other advocacy groups. She continues to represent asylum-seekers on a pro bono basis and brings a passionate devotion to public interest advocacy and social justice to her practice. Leona has three school-aged children and understands the challenges parents face when advocating for their children.

Beth Shore is Counsel with Fox Rothschild LLP where she focuses her practice on education and labor and employment matters. Before Fox Rothschild, Beth worked as a Deputy Attorney General in the Education and Higher Education Section of the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. She represented the New Jersey Department of Education in complex litigation involving special education, charter schools, school funding and the issuance and revocation of teaching certificates, as well as Montclair State University in employment matters. While in law school, Beth worked at the Centre County District Attorney’s Office, the Custody and Support Assistance Clinic of Philadelphia Legal Assistance and as a Certified Legal Intern for the Penn State Dickinson School of Law Family Law Clinic. As an undergraduate, she interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Beth has served as a volunteer counselor for the Ronald McDonald Camp through the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. She is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, J.D., and the Pennsylvania State University, B.A.

Brian Jason Ford has served as a Special Education Due Process Hearing Officer since 2010. In addition to adjudicating due process hearings, Hearing Officer Ford helps parties resolve their disputes without hearings through the Office for Dispute Resolution’s alternative dispute resolution initiatives. Hearing Officer Ford received a JD with a certificate in advocacy and dispute resolution from Penn State Law and practiced special education law on both sides of the aisle before becoming a hearing officer.