Nina Gupta is a Member of Brock Clay’s Education Group and is the leader of its Special Education Practice Group. She represents large and small school districts, including Cobb County School District, Fulton County School District, Marietta City Schools, Clayton County School District, and Mitchell County School District. She is a leading expert in the field of Special Education and routinely counsels her school district clients in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and related statutes.

Ms. Gupta has provided advice and guidance on every aspect of complying with legal mandates regarding disabled students. She has attended innumerable IEP and Section 504 meetings, represented clients in mediations, and successfully defended school districts in administrative, state, and federal courts. In addition, Ms. Gupta routinely works with the federal Office of Civil Rights and the Georgia Department of Education when representing her school district clients and has helped multiple school districts comply with requirements of State-issued Corrective Action Plans. Finally, Ms. Gupta assists her clients in developing appropriate policies, procedures, and programming to comply with legal mandates.

In addition to her expertise regarding students with disabilities, Ms. Gupta handles a variety of other educational issues such as charter school petition review, as well as and a full range of employment issues, including Fair Dismissal Act disputes and discrimination claims. Ms. Gupta also assists her clients in handling day-to-day student issues, as well as advising regarding the development of appropriate policies and procedures.

Ms. Gupta graduated from Dunwoody High School in Dekalb County, Georgia in 1992. She then attended the University of Chicago where she earned a B.A. with Honors in Psychology in 1995. After joining the private sector, she earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan School of Law in 2001, where she also served on the editorial board of the Michigan Journal of Gender and Law.

She is admitted to practice in all courts in the State of Georgia, as well as the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, Ms. Gupta is a registered mediator and arbitrator with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution.  

Exceptional Accomplishments

Ms. Gupta has served as lead counsel and co-counsel in a multitude of special education cases in which she has successfully defended school districts accused to have violated federal and state statutes regarding students with disabilities, including the following:

• A.E.B. v. Cobb County School District, CAFN 1:07-cv-00575 (N.D. Ga. 2009)
• A.G. v. Fulton County School District, CAFN 1:07-cv-00598 (N.D. Ga. 2009)
• Fulton County School District v. S.C., CAFN 1:07-cv-01907 (N.D. Ga. 2009)
• W.C. v. Cobb County School District, 407 F. Supp. 2d 1351 (N.D. Ga. 2005)
• K.C. v. Fulton County School District, 2006 U.S. Dist LEXIS 47652 (N.D. Ga. 2006)
• S.M. v. Fulton County School District, CAFN 1:05-cv-00960 (N.D. Ga. 2007)
• G.R. v. Cobb County School District, Civil Action No.: 08-1-7263-40 (2009)
• Child with a Disability v. Cobb County School District, 109 LRP 72062 (Georgia SEA 2009)
• Child with a Disability v. Cobb County School District, 108 LRP 46614 (Georgia SEA 2008)
• Child with a Disability. v. Cobb County School District, 108 LRP 25048 (Georgia SEA 2008)
• Child with a Disability. v. Cobb County School District, 107 LRP 59628 (Georgia SEA 2007)
• Fulton County School District v. Child with a Disability, 106 LRP 21100 (Georgia SEA 2006)
• Z.M.S. v. Paulding County School District, 107 LRP 964 (Georgia SEA 2006)
• Child with a Disability v. Cobb County School District, 104 LRP 35927 (Georgia SEA 2004)
• Fulton County School District v. Child with a Disability, 104 LRP 35945 (Georgia SEA 2004)
• Fulton County School District v. Child With a Disability., 104 LRP 35945 (Georgia SEA, 2004)

In addition, Ms. Gupta has successfully defended school districts in personnel matters. She has successfully defended school districts in Fair Dismissal Act disputes, such as:

• Reddish v. Fulton County School District, Civil Action No. 2005-CV-97088 (2007)

She also served as co-counsel in Anderson-Sorhaindo v. Fulton County School District, Civil Action No. 1:02-cv-00346-GGB (N.D. Ga. 2004), in which a federal jury returned a full defense verdict in favor of a school district accused of pregnancy discrimination.

Publications

“Rationality and Results:  Why School Choice Efforts Endure Despite Lack of Improvement on Student Achievement” (working title); John Marshall Law Review (in press)

Special Education Legal Update:  After High Court Win, Parents Lose Reimbursement Case (December 8, 2009)

Special Education Legal Update:  Court Affirms School’s Right to Determine Methodologies for Disabled Children (October 6, 2009)

Special Education Legal Update:  Congress Expands 504 Protections (January 2, 2009)

Representative Speaking Engagements

• “The Personnel File: Do’s and Don’ts,” Georgia Association of School Personnel Administrators Fall Conference; St. Simons Island, GA, December 2009
• “Updates to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act,” Fulton County School District, December 2009
• “Section 504: Questions and Answers,” Cobb County School District, February 2009 
• “Section 504 and the ADA Amendments Act,” Cobb County School District, September and October 2009 
•  “Practical and Legal issues in Autism,” Center for School Law & Policy Training Conference; Macon, GA, February 2009
• “An Introduction to Section 504 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,” Marietta City Schools, May 2007
• “Discipline and the Disabled Student,” Fulton County School District, August 2007 
• "Special Education: Discipline & the Disabled Student," Center for School Law & Policy Training Conference; Winder, GA, November 2006