Chantel Alberhasky  specializes in representing families of children with disabilities in the area of special education law.  Ms.  Alberhasky is the mother of two children with disabilities who receive special education  services, so she understands first hand the struggles that many families have faced during their quest to obtain appropriate services for their children.    Her experience - and the fact that there were no attorneys in Southwest Missouri whose practice was devoted to representing children with disabilities - led her to the decision to focus her practice on special education law.

Ms. Alberhasky won a recent appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding an issue of eligibility under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Court of Appeals found the District court did not err in finding the student was a child with a disability as defined by the Act as the administrative record supported the district court’s finding that he met the requirements for emotional disturbance; record also supported the conclusion that the student had a qualifying “other health impairment” because his educational performance was affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.  Hansen v. Republic R-III School District (MLW No. 61715/Case No. 10-1514 ) Published (8th Cir. Jan. 21, 2011 (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Shepherd, J.).  Attorneys fees were awarded to Ms. Alberhasky's clients.

Ms. Alberhasky also recently brought a Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act retaliation claim against the Forsyth R-III School District which she successfully settled prior to trial.  Forrest, et al v. Forsyth R-III School District, et al.

Ms. Alberhasky has been asked to present at various state and national conferences on the topic of special education.  Ms. Alberhasky has presented at the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children's national convention, National Federation of the Blind of Missouri state convention, NOAH (National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation) state conference, the Missouri State Blindness Skills Specialist Project special education workshop and NALS of Missouri workshop.   

Ms. Alberhasky is a Cum Laude history graduate from Missouri State University.   She graduated from the University of Missouri - Columbia School of Law in 1998.    She was the recepient of the Sydney Faber academic award for excellence in criminal law.   She participated in the Domestic Violence Clinic at the University of Missouri where she represented abused women in restraining order cases. Ms. Alberhasky also acted as guardian-ad-litem for abused and neglected children. Ms. Alberhasky worked as a summer intern with the Missouri Attorney General's office in the criminal division during her law school career.   

Upon graduation from law school, she practiced in the area of product liability and personal injury as an associate with the Law Offices of Robert M.N. Palmer, P.C.. In 2002, Ms. Alberhasky and her husband, Randy C. Alberhasky, created The Alberhasky Law Firm, P.C., where together they fight for the rights of children and their families.

ADMITTED
1998, Missouri and U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri; 2010, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals

PRACTICE AREAS
Special Education Law

EDUCATION
Law School: University of Missouri, J.D., 1998
College: Missouri State University, B.A., cum laude, 1995

MEMBER
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates; Springfield Metropolitan and American Bar Associations; The Missouri Bar; Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys; National Federation of the Blind; Missouri Parents of Blind Children.

BIOGRAPHY
Recipient, Sydney Faber Award for Excellence in Criminal Law, 1996.

BORN

England, 1964

 CHANTEL L. ALBERHASKY, ESQ.