Overview

Lauri Arrowsmith is Senior Counsel in Lozano Smith's San Diego office. Ms. Arrowsmith focuses on helping school districts handle complex special education issues in a variety of settings, including IEP meetings, mediations and due process hearings. With her many years of experience representing school districts, Ms. Arrowsmith strives to assist her clients in resolving special education matters while taking into consideration the balance between the needs of the student and the needs of the school district. Ms. Arrowsmith also works with clients on public finance matters, focusing primarily on bond counsel and special tax counsel work for municipal issuers and school districts.

Experience

Ms. Arrowsmith has represented school districts in special education matters, including special education litigation, since 2001. She regularly participates in IEP meetings and mediations for high profile special education disputes. She also assists school districts in responding to state compliance complaints. She routinely handles autism cases, emotional disturbance eligibility, and various other cases ranging from assessment disputes to federal due process appeals. In addition, she has represented clients in many due process hearings resulting in decisions favorable to the school district. A prolific speaker, Ms. Arrowsmith presents workshops on a variety of special education topics at statewide conferences including ACSA Every Child Counts.

Ms. Arrowsmith has been practicing Federal tax law since 1993, and serves as bond counsel, issuer's counsel, disclosure counsel and special tax counsel in financings that include general obligation bonds, certificates of participation, Mello-Roos special tax bonds, tax increment bonds, USDA Loans, and lease revenue bonds.

Education

Ms. Arrowsmith earned her LL.M. in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law and her J.D. from Widener University School of Law. She holds a B.A. from The Ohio State University.

Episode 55 Special Education - Private Schools and Alternatives to Public School Placements

By: Lauri Arrowsmith, Kaitlyn Tucker-Marchini- 07/05/2022

In the wake of COVID-19, many families have experienced or explored new ways for their children to receive education. Lozano Smith attorneys Lauri Arrowsmith and Kaitlyn Tucker will examine the recent trend of more parents seeking alternative placements for their children with disabilities and how educational agencies should handle such requests, including those seeking placement at a private or home school. This episode will also address recent case law in the past year which provides meaningful directives on this issue.