Catherine M. Michael - Attorney
Chair of Education Law Team

Email: cmichael@hzlegal.com | Phone: 317.348.6723 | Fax: 317.569.2202

Catherine Michael is an attorney at Hollingsworth & Zivitz, PC and is the Chair of the Education Law Team. Her practice focuses on education law, representing parents throughout the state of Indiana and nationwide through local counsel. Catherine has extensive experience with -

• Special education
• Due process and section 504 hearings under state and federal law
• Civil arbitration hearings
• Teacher and student discipline and dismissal matters
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other civil rights matters

Catherine is a nationwide author and speaker, conducting numerous presentations and training programs for parents, schools, and education organizations across the nation. Her topics include -

• Student discipline
• Indiana's article 7, the No Child Left Behind Act
• Educational due process
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA)
• Section 504 and other state and federal laws
• Special education student issues

Catherine is an adjunct professor for the Nova Southeastern School of Law in Florida, where she works in the Education Law Masters Program. Catherine also helped develop and now teaches the Parent Advocate Training and Certification Program for the Autism Education and Training Center, Inc. located in Carmel, Indiana. She is the author of The Parent's Easy Guide to Special Education: Understanding Eligibility, Evaluations, and Case Conferences (available in paperback or e-book download).

Catherine has appeared on a number of television and radio programs discussing the issues that face both schools and parents in the area of special education and special needs children. She is the weekly host of Fox 59's Education Matters segment; a frequent guest host on the local radio show Crime Beat hosted by Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, and has been a frequent guest on legal and education issues on the Montel Williams Show. In 2009, 2010, and 2011, Catherine was named to the prestigious list of Super Lawyers® Rising Stars by Law & Politics Magazine and Indianapolis Monthly.

She has assisted children with many different needs, including children with speech and language disorders, visual and hearing impairments, mobility problems, retardation, communication disorders, autistic spectrum disorders, non-verbal learning disabilities, standard learning disabilities, dyslexia, and ADD/ADHD in getting the education and/or accommodation plans to appropriately meet their needs. She also works with families whose children have faced abuse in a school setting in civil actions for damages.

In addition to her busy practice, she enjoys sailing, scuba diving, and snorkeling. She resides in Indianapolis with her husband and two daughters.

Education

• Indiana University School of Law, J.D.
• Western Washington University, B.A., Political Science

Awards and honors

• Super Lawyers® Rising Stars, (2011, 2010, 2009)
• The Honorable Viola J. Taliaferro Award, (2010)

Legal organizations

• Indiana State Bar Association
• Indianapolis Bar Association
• Hamilton County Bar Association

Civic organizations and volunteerism

• Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA)

Seminars and articles

• Catherine is a frequent speaker on various issues affecting families with children who have special needs in the public school system. For a list of her upcoming seminars, please visit www.catherinemichael.blogspot.com.

To speak to Catherine Michael about your education and school law issue, call Hollingsworth & Zivitz, PC at 317.Divorce, (317.348.6723), or click here to contact us online..