Inland Empire
Heather McGunigle
Heather McGunigle is a Staff Attorney and the first Director of the Inland Empire Program of the Disability Rights Legal Center, opening a satellite office in March 2005. She developed a Medi-Cal services matrix in conjunction with the Inland Empire Health Plan. She has also participated in cases involving access to programs, services and activities of places of higher education, as well as other public agencies. In addition, she is actively involved in special education advocacy, including initiating due process complaints and state compliance complaints against school districts in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.
Ms. McGunigle is responsible for coordinating the Inland Empire Advisory Board. She conducts parent education programs, and has guest taught at University of La Verne College of law in Ontario. She works with pro bono volunteer law students from University of La Verne College of Law and Loyola Law School, as well as other volunteers.
Prior to joining the DRLC's Inland Empire Program, Ms. McGunigle spent three semesters as a legal extern for the DRLC's Civil Rights Litigation Project and one semester with DRLC's Education Advocacy Project. Ms. McGunigle's other public interest externships included the Inner City Law Center, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles' Eviction Defense Center, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Ms. McGunigle graduated from Mount Saint Mary's College with a B.A. in Liberal Arts. She received her J.D. from Loyola Law School in December 2004, where she participated in public interest externships, as well as Professor Gary Williams' Civil Rights Litigation Course. Upon graduation from law school, she received a Loyola Law School Public Interest Post-Graduate Fellowship. Ms. McGunigle is a resident of Riverside.