Elizabeth Estes - Founder

Elizabeth A. Estes is an attorney with the California education law firm Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Rudd & Romo.  In college, Elizabeth found herself the victim of a violent hostage crisis that solidified her interest in education and making sure children and families receive the services they need to stay healthy and whole.  Since then, she has spent twenty years representing school districts and dependent children and is an expert in all aspects of special education and student services, including student discipline, inter-district transfers, open enrollment, first amendment protections, IEP processes, discrimination, cyber-bullying, behavior management, media literacy, student assessment, program development, and more.   She is a frequent presenter at both state and national conferences and has been integral in training school personnel and attorneys statewide. She has litigated numerous matters for her clients and been at the forefront of developing alternative dispute resolution processes for agencies seeking to preemptively address dispute and related costs.  Ms. Estes graduated from Loyola Law School (J.D.) in 1994 and from University of California, Berkeley (B.A.) in 1991.

Support efforts to prioritize children’s mental health, San Francisco Chronicle, May 16, 2015.

A Mother's Prayer For Much Needed Mental Health Services, San Francisco Chronicle, May 27, 2014.