Laura Rothstein, J.D.
Professor of Law &
     Distinguished University Scholar
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky

Laura Rothstein, joined the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville as Professor of Law and Dean in 2000 (serving as dean until 2005). In 2006, she was appointed by the University of Louisville as a Distinguished University Scholar. Entering the field of disability discrimination law in 1979, she is one of the founding scholars in the area, and has written eleven books and numerous book chapters, articles, and other works on disability discrimination. Her work covers all aspects of disability discrimination, but focuses on issues in higher education, legal education, and special education. School choice and students with disabilities, genetic testing and students with disabilities, mental illness in the workplace, students with learning disabilities in higher education are among the topics on which she has written and lectured.

Charles P. Rose, J.D.
General Counsel for the
     U.S. Department of Education
Washington, D.C.

Charles P. Rose is the general counsel for the U.S. Department of Education. He was nominated by President Obama on March 18, 2009, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 1, 2009. In this position, Rose serves as the chief legal officer for the Department and as the legal adviser to the secretary of education on all matters affecting the Department’s programs and activities. Prior to his appointment, Rose was engaged in the private practice of law. He was a founding partner and corporate secretary of Franczek Radelet P.C. (formerly Franczek Radelet & Rose P.C.), established in 1994. There, he represented school districts, municipalities, and other public employers across Illinois with respect to labor relations and collective bargaining matters, general matters of labor and employment law, and education law. Rose served as the lead negotiator on hundreds of collective bargaining agreements for a wide variety of public employers, including the Chicago Public Schools and City of Chicago.

Christopher P. Borreca, J.D.
ELA Immediate Past President
And Founding Partner
Thompson & Horton, LLP
Houston, Texas

Christopher P. Borreca was the education director of the Center for the Retarded Inc. in Houston for nine years before becoming an attorney. He has extensive experience in special education issues, as well as contract issues, employment issues, and other school law matters. Mr. Borreca also has experience with hearings on student discipline, employee grievances, personnel and school board appeals. A registered lobbyist, he also is active at the state and federal legislative level working on behalf of school districts and educational organizations. He has published articles in the Houston Lawyer and Texas School Law: A Practical Guide, and has held a leadership position in the Education Law Association since 2000 and is currently immediate past president of ELA.

Perry Zirkel, J.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Perry A. Zirkel is university professor of education and law at Lehigh University, where he formerly was dean of the College of Education and more recently held the Iacocca Chair in Education for its five-year term. He has a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and a J.D. from the University of Connecticut, and a Master of Laws degree from Yale University. He has written more than 1,200 publications on various aspects of school law, with an emphasis on legal issues in special education. He writes a regular column in Phi Delta Kappan, another for Principal magazine, and a third, more recently, for Teaching Exceptional Children.  Past president of the Education Law Association and co-chair of the Pennsylvania special education appeals panel from 1990 to 2006, he is the author of the two-volume reference Section 504, the ADA, and the Schools, and the recent CEC monograph The Legal Meaning of Specific Learning Disability. Dr. Zirkel is also the author of the forthcoming ELA publication, A Digest of Supreme Court Decisions Affecting Education.