Council of Educators for Students with Disabilities, Inc.


©2009, 2018 Richards Lindsay & Martin, L.L.P. All Rights Reserved. This site contains information about the law, not legal advice. For questions involving a particular set of facts, please consult a licensed attorney. Attorneys in the firm are not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. No designation has been made by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization for a Certificate of Special Competence in education law or special education law.

The Council of Educators for Students with Disabilities, Inc.  (CESD)

13091 Pond Springs Road, Suite 300,  Austin, Texas  78729

Phone: 512.219.5043    Facsimile (512) 918-3013    


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Customized training from CESD!


In addition to offering two two-day conferences through CESD each year in Austin, attorneys Dave Richards & Jose Martín can also create an inservice and written materials designed to meet your unique needs.


Whether your audience is new to Section 504 or IDEA or is fairly sophisticated, they can provide a training program to improve your knowledge and skills. Virtually any topic covered in the conferences (as well as many other other topics) can be modified to fit your audience and setting.

The Presenters

The Attorneys Jose Martín and David Richards represent school districts and special education cooperatives in Texas on issues involving the education of students with disabilities. Through working with regular and special educators for over 25 years, Dave & Jose have developed an appreciation of the need for public educators to develop a working knowledge of disability law issues. To meet that need, Dave & Jose created the Council of Educators for Students with Disabilities (CESD), offering high-quality disability law conferences in Austin, Texas. They participate in all CESD conferences, providing the legal perspective on Section 504 and IDEA issues at those conferences. They likewise provide presentations on Section 504, IDEA and NCLB at schools, districts, and service centers, and at regional, state and national conferences across the country.


The Philosophy

You can’t comply with a law you don’t understand. Unfortunately, IDEA and Section 504 are not without vagaries and difficult concepts. Dave & Jose explain the law in simple, common-sense language, illustrated with frequent examples from real-world experiences. Rather than expanding on the law and its requirements from an academic perspective, they focus on the everyday implications of the legal framework, emphasizing compliance through awareness and planning. They supplement their presentations with detailed written materials that provide legal authority and additional explanation long after the presentation is over.


Different folks have different concerns and training needs.

There is no one-size-fits-all perfect IDEA or 504 training that meets the needs of every campus, region or state in the country. Just like services under the IDEA and 504, presentations (to be appropriate) must focus on unique needs and provide understanding in areas that matter to the presentation audience. Consequently, Dave and Jose will work closely with you to develop a training that covers the issues that matter to you and your audience. Further, when the size of the audience permits, Dave and Jose prefer to take questions from participants throughout presentations to establish an interactive format within which participants feel free to add their comments and thoughts to the presentation agenda. The result is a truly individualized learning experience.


So what can Jose & Dave talk about?

Virtually any area of interest in Section 504 and IDEA.


Customized training is surprisingly affordable.

Once you’ve calculated the travel costs of sending staff to a conference (including registrations, lost travel time to and from the event, etc.) consider the option of bringing the training to you. For example, Jose & Dave have already had great success putting on statewide events in Hawaii, New Mexico and in Arkansas in conjunction with their respective State Departments of Education. As a result, hundreds of educators from these three states were able to attend a comprehensive training event (tailored to local needs) without having to get approval for out-of-state travel.


Texas presentations.

Jose & Dave’s legal practice and clients are in Texas, where they are both licensed to practice law. Their Austin office allows them to reach clients all over the state with relatively easy travel time demands. Give us a call to discuss speaking fees and costs.


Out-of-Texas presentations.

Jose and Dave work with schools, state departments of education and conferences all over the country. Give us a call to discuss speaking fees and costs.


What else can you tell me?

In the pages that follow, you can learn more about Dave Richards and Jose Martín, see the types of workshops and presentations they have created for audiences of all sizes, and request a quote to build a training with written materials that meets your needs, on a campus, district, regional, state or national level.


We’d be happy to talk with you about designing an inservice program to meet your disability law training needs, featuring attorneys and practitioners knowledgeable about compliance issues and the realities of day-to-day life in the public schools. If you need to train large groups and can’t afford to send them to Austin, email or call 1-512-219-5043 to bring CESD to you!