Special Education Advocacy Summit (SEAS) 2026
July 22 @ 9:00 AM - July 25 @ 5:00 PM
$825.00 – $990.00
This two-and-a-half-day special education advocacy training program held at the St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, will begin with a reception on Wednesday evening, July 22, 2026, and conclude on Saturday afternoon, July 25, 2026. Hotel accommodations are downtown on San Antonio’s historic River Walk. The Special Education Advocacy Summit (SEAS) is sponsored by Connell Michael, LLP and Wrightslaw.
The program will include approximately 13 sessions on applicable laws, ethics, best practices in advocacy, case strategies and dispute resolution procedures, taught by national leaders in the field.
The purpose of the SEAS program is to provide training in special education advocacy for advocates, law students, new attorneys and attorneys who are new to special education law.
Proceeds from the summit will support the Center for Legal and Social Justice, which provides free legal services from attorneys and second- and third-year law students to income-qualified clients in San Antonio and South Texas. Students enjoy hands-on experience in all aspects of case handling under the direct supervision of a faculty member of St. Mary’s University School of Law.
Attendees will be selected via an application process. Applications will be reviewed on a bi-weekly rolling basis until the class is full. Early applications are recommended as the class size is limited.
Attorneys: $990 (CLE credit is offered)
Advocates, Educator/Advocates, non-attorneys and non-credit-seeking law students: $825
Two or more advocates or attorneys from the same organization/office will receive a 10% discount on each registration. The registration fee includes an opening reception, all lunches and scheduled breaks and over $250 of materials, including books and multimedia training from Wrightslaw, books by author Patricia L. Johnson Howey (M.Jur. ’24), as well as other valuable resources. In general, educational and training expenses are tax deductible. Check with your accountant about deductible educational expenses that may include books, continuing legal education fees and travel costs.
Hello!
I am interested in the 2026 Special Education Advocacy Summit. I am a special education teacher certified in Severe Intellectual Disabilities (25 years). Eventually I would like to transition from that role to one of an educational advocate.
When I click on the “register here” link the form has many questions that do not apply to my area. Is this a conference I am able to attend?
I also noticed a letter of reference and a résumé are those required if I an neither an advocate or attorney?
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
hanks for your interest. As you surmised, the focus is on training existing lay advocates and attorneys.
I suggest that you consider signing up for the program I am doing in San Antonio next week. URL is:
https://www.wrightslaw.com/speak/26.03.tx.htm
That training is six hours and can get you jump started into the field. Or, you might find that it is something that you may not want to pursue.
For lay advocates and attorneys, the questions are appropriate for the admissions committee to ask to assess an attendees current knowledge and motivation.
Yes, reference letters and resume are required.
(Fortunately, I have nothing to do with the admission process.)
Pete Wright