Meet Our Practice
Experience, Passion, Diligence We Specialize in Education Law Representing Students & Their Families
After years as civil and commercial litigation attorneys, sisters Lori Kirsch-Goodwin & Hope Kirsch opened their law firm back in 2006 to serve students (pre-K, K-12 and higher education) and their families throughout Arizona. Lori is the parent of an adult on the spectrum while Hope was a special education teacher. They draw on their backgrounds, committed to helping each and every student they represent.
Lori and Hope are consistently rated by their peers as Top Education Lawyers in Arizona (Phoenix Magazine).
Attorney Lori Kirsch-Goodwin
As the mother of an adult with special needs, Lori navigated the public school system as both a parent and attorney beginning when one of her twin boys was found eligible for an IEP back in kindergarten.
Lori has a Bachelors degree from Syracuse University and her law degree from Bridgeport (now Quinnipiac) University. She is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts in New York, New Jersey, Arizona and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Lori prevailed in a case before the 9th Circuit involving the appropriateness of a school’s location of a private school for a student on the spectrum. She is an AV® Preeminent rated attorney and also served as a Judge Pro Tem for the Superior Court of Arizona.
Attorney Hope Kirsch
Before becoming an attorney, Hope Kirsch dedicated nearly 20 years to serving students with disabilities as a special education teacher and school administrator in the New York City public school system. Her work spanned self-contained classrooms, separate special education schools, day treatment programs, and hospital-based instruction—giving her unmatched insight into the challenges students and families face in navigating special education. Hope earned a B.S. cum laude in Special Education from Boston University, an M.A.(Ed.) in Special Education focusing on emotional disabilities from New York University, and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. She is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts in Arizona and New York, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninch Circuit. Hope also served for several years as a Judge Pro Tem for the Superior Court of Arizona. Her combined experience as an educator and attorney makes her uniquely qualified to advocate for students and families in complex special education matters.