Rebecca Sassouni

Overview

Rebecca Sassouni, Esq., PLLC (she/her)

Attorney for Students, Children, Families OF COUNSEL

Sassouni understands the nexus of relationships among children, families, schools, and emerging law. Her practice consists of advising, consulting, and representing students of all ages in public and private school settings, at meetings, at mediation, and hearings to navigate this complex web. She brings a compassionate, practical, economical, and consensus-minded approach to serve her clients’ goals. Rebecca coaches her clients to grow and advocate for themselves after her representation concludes. Long committed to community, families, and children, and to pro bono and public service, Sassouni is available to address civic groups, schools, Bar Associations, and SEPTAs.

 

EDUCATION

• Hofstra University School of Law
• Associate Editor, Hofstra Law Review
• Barnard College, Columbia University
• Cum laude, with Distinction in English Literature

CERTIFICATIONS

• Long Island Dispute Resolution Center
• New York State IEP (Individualized Education Plan) Facilitator

ADMISSIONS

• 1996 York State Second Department
• 2016 Supreme Court of the United States

PRACTICE AREAS

• Mediation
• Facilitation
• Special Education CSEs, IEPs, 504s
• Unilateral placement
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Bullying
• Academic Integrity: Code of Conduct Violations
• Residency
• Section 3214 Suspension Hearings
• Immunization

PUBLICATIONS/PRESENTATIONS

• December 2022 “The Legal Rights of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students”, Nassau County Bar Association
• October 2020 “Special Education in Time of COVID-19” Nassau Bar
• December 2019 Presenter, Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law Annual School Law Conference “Seeing If There is a Better Way: A Look into Student Discipline As We Head into 2020”
• July/August 2019 “Suspension of Students with Disabilities for Sexualized Utterances and Behaviors”
• June 2019 Presenter, National Business Institute,”Successfully Represent Your Client with an Understanding of All the Issues”
• December 2018 Presenter, Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law Annual School Law Conference. “Special Education: Advantages and Disadvantages to Selecting Different Administrative Forums.”
• October 2018 “Students Suspended for Participation in Instagram Group”
• December 2017 Presenter, Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law Annual School Law Conference “Endrew F. – SCOTUS Rules on the Requirement to Provide a FAPE: The Decision and its Impact from the Perspectives of a School Attorney and a Parent Advocate”
• July/August 2016 “NYSED Implements Pilot Programfor IEP Facilitation”
• April 2016, Nassau County Bar Association, CLE “IEP Challenges: When is it OK to Look Outside the Box? Consideration of Prospective Evidence Beyond the Four Corners of the IEP”
• November 2014 Nassau County Bar Association, “Recent Significant Decisions from the Second Circuit Involving Special Education”