OCR’s Year In Review

Presented at 8:00am in Plaza Ballroom E on Thursday, November 18, 2021.

#33955

Speaker(s)

  • Mary Lou Mobley, National Disability Expert, U.S. Dept. of Education
  • Patrick Alexander, Senior Regional Attorney, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Dept. of Education

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 2-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: Beginner
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

We will discuss noteworthy recent matters from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

Abstract

The Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education enforces Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the ADA, as well as civil rights laws protecting people on the bases of race, color, and national origin; gender; and age. Come to this presentation to learn more about noteworthy disability cases that arose within the past year, including areas of emphasis.

Keypoints

  1. Participants will learn more about OCR's current areas of emphasis in disability rights law.
  2. Participants will learn more about how OCR approaches complicated disability rights issues.
  3. Participants will learn more about upcoming challenges in disability rights laws.

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Legal, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Mary Lou Mobley

Mary Lou Mobley graduated from Duke University in 1990 with a law degree and a Master’s in Philosophy. After clerking for a Federal judge, she joined the Federal government in Washington, DC, as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section, where she earned numerous awards including the John Marshall Award for Distinguished Service. In 2006, she moved to Denver and joined the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, where she currently serves as OCR’s National Disability Expert and Lead of OCR's National Digital Access Team.

Patrick Alexander

Patrick Alexander is a Senior Regional Attorney at the OCR’s Denver regional office. Mr. Alexander spent four years teaching on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in Dulce, New Mexico before attending law school at Loyola University-Chicago School of Law. Mr. Alexander clerked for the Honorable John L. Coffey in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and, between 2002-2012, served in the Northern District of Illinois as the Honorable William J. Hibbler’s career law clerk. Mr. Alexander joined OCR’s Chicago regional office in 2012 and moved to the Denver regional office in 2016.