News
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP Welcome New Associate
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey and Lehane, LLP is pleased to announce the addition of a new associate attorney. Brendan Collins is a recent graduate of Notre Dame Law School and is currently awaiting results from the Massachusetts Bar Exam. He will be practicing in the Labor and Employment Department at MHTL.
Brendan was born outside San Francisco, California and attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Ma. Prior to law school, Brendan provided legal aid to marginalized communities in San Antonio, TX at Catholic Charities through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. In particular, Brendan was a Court Monitor in Bexar County, which involved checking the wellbeing of adults under legal guardianship, and also a legal assistant for Catholic Charities in their needed work.
While at Notre Dame Law School, Brendan spent three years working to advance the rights of the LGBTQ community at Notre Dame by holding leadership positions on the law school’s LGBT Law Forum. As a 2L, Brendan helped organize an event that hosted Jim Obergefell, a named Plaintiff from the landmark marriage equality case, which was one of the most attended events in the law school’s history. Brendan also was a member of the LGBT Bar Association, and secured funding for eight Notre Dame Law Students student to be able to attend the Lavender Law Career Fair in the summer of 2019. As a 3L, Brendan was the President of the LGBT Law Forum and organized a symposium to discuss Title VII prior to the Supreme Court’s decision Bostock v. Clayton County.
During law school, Brendan spent a semester working in Washington, DC in the Office of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior. Brendan was also a member of the Journal of Legislation and his Note, Back to the Farm: A Call to Re-Invigorate New York City’s Biosolid Program, was published in 2019.
United States Supreme Court Opens the Door for Special Education Students’ Right to Bypass Due Process Hearings When Also Suing School District for Money Damages Under ADA: Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, 598 U.S. ___(2023)
In a unanimous ruling issued on March 21, 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided in favor of a 27-year-old deaf student who sued his Michigan school district, claiming he was denied the services of a qualified interpreter for years, and was misled by teachers and administrators about his progress in school. The student, Miguel Perez, only sought monetary damages. The Court held that he was free to sue the district for money damages due to discrimination under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Court found that he did not have to “exhaust his administrative remedies,” prior to bringing such an action for damages. The doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies in a case involving the rights of a disabled student requires a litigant to file and complete a due process hearing before an agency like the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) on all claims stemming from a school district's requirement to provide a student with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
United States Supreme Court Opens the Door for Special Education Students’ Right to Bypass Due Process Hearings When Also Suing School District for Money Damages Under ADA: Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, 598 U.S. ___(2023)
In a unanimous ruling issued on March 21, 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided in favor of a 27-year-old deaf student who sued his Michigan school district, claiming he was denied the services of a qualified interpreter for years, and was misled by teachers and administrators about his progress in school. The student, Miguel Perez, only sought monetary damages. The Court held that he was free to sue the district for money damages due to discrimination under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Court found that he did not have to “exhaust his administrative remedies,” prior to bringing such an action for damages. The doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies in a case involving the rights of a disabled student requires a litigant to file and complete a due process hearing before an agency like the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) on all claims stemming from a school district's requirement to provide a student with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
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