2025 CLE + COMMUNITY EDUCATION SEMINAR
September 22nd, 9AM – 4PM
Perry Lane Hotel
256 East Perry Street
Savannah, GA 31401
Speakers
Karin Kissiah, the SVP board president, will lecture on the importance of professionalism in the context of school expulsion hearings. Disciplinary hearings are unique in that they take place in a quasi-judicial setting, where the outcome has significant implications not only for the legal rights of the student but also for the ongoing relationship between the school and the family. Professionalism in this context goes beyond mere adherence to the rules of conduct; it involves a commitment to civility, integrity, and fostering positive, long-term relationships within the school community.
Currey Hitchens will lecture on Manifestation Determination hearings and appeals. Currey is the head of Hitchens Law, LLC, a law firm specializing in representing families in education law cases. She has worked in the Kinship Care Project at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society focusing on representing children in kinship care families in school discipline and special education issues. Currey practiced for nine years at Georgia Legal Services and was a supervising attorney in the Piedmont Office.
Josh Lingsch is a defense attorney who specializes in representing youths in juvenile court delinquency proceedings and school discipline hearings. As a former Fulton County public defender in juvenile court, he was radicalized to the inequity of the school discipline process by seeing how often his clients would face expulsion in addition to their juvenile court charges. Josh has successfully defended students in discipline matters all over the state at both the tribunal hearing itself and subsequent appellate process – most recently by reversing a student’s permanent expulsion after appealing the matter to the county superior court.offering
Lunch Included!6 CLE credit hours
1 Professionalism hour
1 Trial Advocacy hour
1 Ethics hour