Star Litigator Jay Lefkowitz Goes Pro Bono in California School Reform Case

February 22nd, 2011. By BrendaC

Lawyers Giving Back looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we’re talking with attorney Jay Lefkowitz…

Attorney Jay Lefkowitz: “If any school deserves to have a shot at reform it’s McKinley.”

A news story about a determined group of parents petitioning for school reform in an impoverished California school district recently caught the eye of high profile internationally known attorney Jay Lefkowitz. No ordinary mortal, Lefkowitz has had a notable career in public service, including an assignment as a special envoy to Korea and also White House advisor to both George H.W. Bush and Bush the younger. Now a partner with Kirkland & Ellis in New York City he is often approached to do pro bono work. “If I think it is an appropriate case, I often say yes,” says Lefkowitz.

 

Attorney Jay Lefkowitz

“In this case, I literally read the article, then picked up the phone and let the parents know I was available to help them. I was just so taken by the power of what they had organized to do.”

Lefkowiitz has a long established interest in education reform—he fought for the right of parents to direct public tax dollars to private education in Florida in 2006 in the school voucher wars—and won.

In the California story he saw another group of parents fighting a system, he says, that “has long empowered teachers, but not parents. I was attracted to their story and told them I would represent them pro bono.”

A mostly Latino school in an impoverished Los Angeles neighborhood, McKinley Elementary is one of the lowest ranked schools in the district of Compton. Unwilling to continue to tolerate a substandard education for their children, a group of parents is using the power of petition under California’s new Parent Empowerment Act to demand reform.

“Mckinley is ranked 22 out of 24 elementary schools in Compton and of course Compton is lowest performing school district in the whole state,” says Lefkowitz, “so if any school deserves to have a shot at reform it’s McKinley.”

The so-called ‘Parent Trigger Act’ requires school boards to make changes when presented with a petition signed by at least 51 percent of parents. But the McKinley parents demand that the school be turned into a charter school that would give them more control over the administration or staffing—and they’re meeting strong resistance from teachers and school board members.

“What we have here are parents seeking to really take control of the educational destiny of their children and a school board that has been really extraordinarily heavy-handed in trying to deny the effect of the law,” says Lefkowitz.

The school board demanded that every person who signed the petition come in person to present photo i.d.—something that the Parent Trigger Act does not stipulate.

“Placing requirements in terms of an in-person photo i.d. requirement would have had a chilling effect on the parents themselves,” says Lefkowitz, who recently obtained a temporary restraining order barring the school from demanding photo i.d.

On February 3, Lefkowitz and another partner from Kirkland & Ellis filed a class action against the Compton Unified School District in Los Angeles.

“We are obviously hoping that the school board will back down and stop threatening the parents,” he adds. “We didn’t want to have to file a lawsuit,” says Lefkowitz, who has a reputation as a hardnosed litigator. “We were hoping that the school board would accept the petition that the parents signed, follow the law and allow the school to become a charter school.”

Lefkowitz admits there could be countless more pro bono hours to come if the board doesn’t retreat. He doesn’t sound too worried about that.

Jay Lefkowitz is a partner with Kirkland and Ellis in New York City. With more than 1,500 lawyers, the firm provides service to clients around the world in the areas of complex litigation, corporate and tax and intellectual property. Lefkowitz has appeared in courtrooms in at least 30 states and won numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. He is also an adjunct professor at the Columbia School of Law.

Tags: Attorney Jay Lefkowitz, California School Reform, Compton School District, Lawyers Giving Back, McKinley Elementary

This was posted on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at 10:20 am and is filed under Emerging Issues, Lawyers Giving Back . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.