Spotlight on Volunteer Attorney
Timothy S. Lykowski, Volunteer Attorney for the Special Education Advocacy Program
Tim Lykowski is an attorney volunteer for the DRLC’s special education advocacy pro bono program who has repeatedly committed his time and skills to help parents of children with disabilities navigate the educational system at their schools. Tim is Vice President of Employment Litigation for Fox Group Legal Department, where Tim and his colleagues have made a significant commitment to the DRLC. Tim gravitated to the special education advocacy work, and has willingly taken on challenging cases, empowering parents and spurring school districts to support their children and help them reach their potential.
Since the beginning of his legal career, as an associate at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Tim has been involved with pro bono work, and has succeeded in obtaining excellent outcomes for clients that could not access the legal system successfully. The first matter Tim took on involved helping a low income client secure title to a home that she had purchased without knowledge of available legal protections and resources. He also volunteered for the “Adoption Saturdays” project through Gibson Dunn and another non-profit organization, facilitating adoptions for parents and children who otherwise would have to endure a lengthy adoption process.
Tim’s introduction to special education advocacy was a personal one. He had helped friends, overwhelmed by the process at their local school district, navigate the testing of their son to identify his disability, and decide with the school what the appropriate educational plan was. Tim noted how much more empowered the parents of the child felt after they and the school had developed a plan, and their son has been thriving educationally since that time.
Coming to the DRLC work with this background, Tim attended the DRLC pro bono program’s special education advocacy training CLE, and took on a case for a parent whose child was excluded from school because of suspected gang affiliation. Subsequently, the child was detained in a juvenile facility. Tim helped advocate for the child and his parent at an IEP at the facility, where the team determined that the child was eligible for special education and provided him with individualized attention and testing modifications. The student, who is smart and proud, thrived in this structured environment and was able to meet his own goal of earning a high school diploma.
Tim recently concluded another case for the office on behalf of a student with a physical disability whose parent was concerned that she had inadequate support at school. Tim was able to help the parent obtain needed evaluations through the school, as well as compensatory hours for time that the student has missed. This student will also graduate on time, due in part to Tim’s intervention, and she is talking about her academic future and hopes to attend college.
The common thread in Tim’s work is his ability to explain the legal process to parents, and empower them to seek what is best for their children while transcending many bureaucratic stumbling blocks. He has found that “the work is tremendously rewarding” and has really liked assisting families and their children to obtain educational services to which they are entitled. Tim credits his tenacity with school officials and his strong relationships with his clients as key components of his success. It is noteworthy that Tim, who accepted referred cases that were challenging, believed wholeheartedly in the children he helped, in their intelligence and their hopes for the future.
Our office congratulates Mr. Lykowski and Fox Group Legal on their commitment to children with special education needs and looks forward to a long and fruitful collaboration between our offices.