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Michelle Alissa Ball
Student Attorney and Advocate
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Biography
Michelle Ball has represented students throughout California since 1995 in expulsion, suspension, special education, 504, sports, bullying, Title IX, discrimination and many other student matters.
Michelle assists parents and students with public and private, pre-K, elementary, middle school and high school problems, as well as college difficulties, across California.
Michelle is located in Sacramento and has a highly informative website and blog on student education issues.
https://edlaw4students.com/
https://edlaw4students.com/blog/
Education
- University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
- J.D. (1994)
- Honors: Graduated "With Distinction," top 25% of class
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- Univ of California Santa Barbara
- B.A. (1991) | Law & Society
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Professional Experience
- Owner/attorney
- Law Office of Michelle Ball
- - Current
- Education attorney for students assisting with expulsion, suspension, discipline, transfer, special education, 504, sports, attendance, harassment, discrimination, and most other education law issues. Helping students in public and private schools, at all grade levels, including pre-school, elementary, junior high, high school, and college since 1995.
Professional Associations
- California State Bar  # 173429
- Member
- - Current
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Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
- California
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Fees
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Credit Cards Accepted
Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover
Practice Area
- Education Law
Languages
- English: Spoken, Written
Legal Answers
- Q. What type of attorney for cyberbullying with physical threats towards a minor?
- A: You need a education attorney who represents students. Often schools don't address bullying despite their legal obligations until a parent brings someone in.
They are mandated to address school bullying, but they have discretion on how they will do that.
It is unclear, however, from the post, if this is happening off campus during non-school hours. There may be more limited obligations if it may be, but it has to be evaluated on a case by case basis.
Good luck.
- Q. Son removed from baseball team for standing up to bullying; coach claims disrespect. What can be done?
- A: This is a tough situation- you definitely need to locate the sports policies for the team or generally (e.g. for all sports at that school), and challenge it based on those. You may need to go above their heads. It is possible there is a policy of good sportsmanship that the Coach could try to use...it is unclear, however, what the breach was, or its basis exactly, until you have the rules.
If you can't get them, you have to go with "reasonableness" arguments or use the general extracurricular policies if there are any, but there is probably a sports policy somewhere that you or he may have signed or been provided at some point.
Good luck.
- Q. Can a school administrator listen to my phone call with a teacher without acknowledging they were there?
- A: Schools usually back their teachers, right or wrong. There is no law that precludes other staff from being present. Perhaps in the future, ask if anyone else is there?
Private schools often include a term in their contracts allowing the private school to terminate students due to "disruptive" parents, so you may want to review their Handbook and other contract documents to see where this may be heading. Also, what they find as "disruptive" may be very different from what you think.... It is sometimes difficult to navigate.
Good luck.
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