Montgomery Law Group, PLLC
The education-law team in your corner.
Education lawyers and student advocates for private-school disputes, college discipline and academic misconduct, Title IX, serious injuries and assaults, IEPs, 504 plans, and disability rights.
- Parents and students only
- Private school and college focus
- Four primary offices · nationwide counsel network
Built for consequential education cases
A coordinated legal team—not a name on a letterhead.
Montgomery Law’s education lawyers and advocates work across legal strategy, educational records, disability rights, discipline, hearings, appeals, negotiations, and litigation. The goal is not to add noise. It is to understand what happened, identify the leverage, protect the student’s future, and build the right plan.
Every matter is different. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
- Author of Parent vs. School
- Education-law media commentator
- Licensed in FL · PA · NJ
Founder and lead education attorney
Joseph W. Montgomery, Esq.
Attorney · Founding Member
Joe founded Montgomery Law to represent parents and students through high-stakes education disputes, hearings, appeals, and litigation. His work spans special education, civil rights, private-school matters, college discipline, Title IX, academic misconduct, and serious school incidents.
He is the author of Parent vs. School and a frequent education-law commentator and speaker.
- Licensed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Federal district-court admissions in Florida and Pennsylvania
- Author, teacher, speaker, and media commentator
View Joe’s court admissions
Read Joe’s full story
Joe attended the University of Tampa before earning his law degree from Widener University Delaware Law School. He also completed part of his legal education at Southwest University of Political Science and Law (西南政法大学) in Chongqing, China, where he studied complex international-law issues.
After law school, Joe worked in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. His work serving children and families in domestic matters gave him substantial courtroom and litigation experience and an early understanding of how legal problems can affect a family’s future.
Joe founded Montgomery Law to put that experience to work for families, students, and victims of serious incidents. He built the firm around consequential education matters: the disputes, institutional decisions, injuries, and civil-rights issues that can change the course of a student’s life.
Joe has longstanding roots in both Florida and Pennsylvania. Today he is based in West Palm Beach, Florida, and serves families along the East Coast with Montgomery Law’s attorneys, advocates, and nationwide network of vetted education counsel where appropriate.
Outside the office, Joe can often be found boating, flying, or lifting heavy @ss weights.
Education knowledge meets case strategy
Meet the team captains.
These lawyers and advocates lead the work shown here. When a matter or jurisdiction calls for additional strength, Montgomery Law can draw on a nationwide network of vetted education lawyers and other counsel on a co-counsel or of-counsel basis where permitted. Representation depends on the facts, jurisdiction, attorney admissions, conflicts review, and a written engagement.
Mary Montgomery, Ed.D.
Paralegal / Advocate
Dr. Montgomery brings more than 40 years of special-education experience as a teacher, administrator, program developer, and advocate in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Read Mary’s background
Bradley Flynn, Esq.
Of Counsel
Bar admissions: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maine.
Brad works in partnership with Montgomery Law as Of Counsel and is a valued member of the firm’s education-law team. He brings experience across education, civil-rights, criminal, and family law, together with the perspective of having worked inside schools with students with special needs.
Read Brad’s background
Kathleen M. Smith, J.D.
Of Counsel · Higher-Education Attorney and Professor
Bar admission: Pennsylvania.
Kathy brings the rare perspective of an attorney who has spent her career inside higher education. As a college professor and pre-law program coordinator, she understands how institutions make academic, disciplinary, and procedural decisions.
Read Kathy’s background
John O’Brien, Esq.
Attorney · Education-Law Team
Bar admission: New York.
John O’Brien works alongside Montgomery Law’s attorneys and advocates serving parents and students. His work supports the coordinated preparation and client service behind the firm’s education matters.
In Memoriam
Remembering David Freeman, Esq.
Dave was a valued member of the Montgomery Law family. His warmth, character, and contributions left a lasting mark on the firm and on the people fortunate enough to work beside him.
We remember Dave with deep gratitude and affection. He will always be part of this team’s story, and he is greatly missed.
Where this team is strongest
The cases that put a student’s future on the line.
The team is built for problems where records, deadlines, institutional power, safety, discipline, and educational access collide.
College discipline and academic misconduct
Suspension, expulsion, dismissal, AI allegations, plagiarism, Title IX, and degree-threatening proceedings.
Priority focusPrivate-school and K–12 disputes
Discipline, enrollment, placement, contracts, safety, accommodations, hearings, and appeals.
Direct review may applySerious injuries, assaults, and bus incidents
Physical or sexual assault, staff misconduct, hazing, dangerous conditions, and preventable transportation injuries.
Education accessIEP, 504, and disability rights
Evaluations, services, placement, accommodations, discrimination, due process, and transition planning.
How the team works
One history. One strategy. No guessing.
Understand the record
Organize the notices, policies, emails, evaluations, discipline records, deadlines, and evidence that define the problem.
Find the leverage
Connect the facts to the governing rules, procedural protections, institutional promises, and available legal options.
Choose the right move
Build a practical plan for the immediate deadline and the student’s longer-term educational, disciplinary, and legal position.
“A team to have in your corner. They treat you as a person and take your case to heart.”
“Joe was excellent!”
Public review excerpts. Individual experiences vary; reviews and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Montgomery Law Group, PLLC
Four primary offices. Nationwide reach.
Our primary offices are in Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maine. We also maintain a large nationwide network of vetted education lawyers and other counsel whom we may call on to assist families through co-counsel or of-counsel relationships when the jurisdiction and matter require it and the arrangement is permitted.
631 US 1, Suite 202
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
561-408-1100
1420 Locust Street, Suite 420
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215-650-7563
Historic Smithville, Suite 1
1 N. New York Road
Galloway, NJ 08205
856-282-5550
64 Paris Street
Norway, ME 04268
207-595-6498
Put the right education-law team in your corner.
For a focused strategy matter, start with a LISS. Serious injury, assault, hazing, staff misconduct, or school-bus cases may qualify for direct attorney review depending on the facts.