Tanya A. Alvarado, Esquire
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Tanya A. Alvarado is an associate with McAndrews Law Offices. She graduated from Cornell University in 1989 and from Boston University School of Law in 1992. She is admitted to practice before the bars of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Alvarado was born in Ecuador, South America, emigrated to the United States at the age of four and is fluent in Spanish. Having two siblings with disabilities, Ms. Alvarado has dedicated her legal career to helping adults and children with disabilities. While at the Disabilities Law Project, Ms. Alvarado represented clients in federal court pursuing broad impact and individual litigation to secure the independence and successful integration of children and adults with disabilities in our communities. Her cases involved obtaining revisions to the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s employment policies that screened out applicants with disabilities, securing necessary overnight skilled nursing care services from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare for a parent whose child required frequent suctioning to avoid choking, obtaining a modification of a zoning policy to allow a ramp to be built at a home where the resident, a wheelchair user, could not leave independently, securing the removal of architectural barriers in Philadelphia to allow wheelchair users access to check cashing and public transportation sales facilities, obtaining policy modification of a national adoption agency that screened disabled applicants, and obtaining a modification of a preschool policy that prohibited a preschooler from moving to an age appropriate classroom due to her physical disability.
While working at McAndrews Law Offices, Ms. Alvarado continues to seek the successful integration and independence of children with special needs. Ms. Alvarado has represented numerous clients to obtain appropriate educational programs in the least restrictive environment, in an effort to enable them to become independent, contributing adults in their communities. Through representation in administrative due process hearings and in federal court, Ms. Alvarado has secured appropriate reading programming for students with significant reading disabilities, tuition at private schools designed for students with disabilities, payment for private evaluations to identify educational needs of the student, equine therapy, and successfully argued a federal court matter supporting the applicability of continuing violations to claims for compensatory education.
Since joining the practice with McAndrews Law Offices, Ms. Alvarado has thoroughly enjoyed representing children. She is continuously inspired by her clients’ ambition and desire to learn and by their many individual talents, including one client who is a three-time medalist in the swimming competitions of the Special Olympics.
Philadelphia Bar Association
Member, Legal Rights of Person with Disabilities, 2000–2005
Reach Out and Read, Advisory Board, 2006–Present
Pennsylvania
Special Education Law
Civil Litigation
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- McAndrews Law Offices recently won two important victories on behalf of children with disabilities in federal court. In two separate cases, the federal court in Philadelphia overturned decisions of the Pennsylvania Appeals Panel and found in favor of children with disabilities and their
families. Read More →
- McAndrews Law
Offices Have Speakers Available for your organization. We provide
dozens of seminars and presentations each year to relevant
organizations in the field of Special Education, Estate Planning,
Special Needs Trusts. Our attorneys regularly speak at national,
state, and local organizations such as parent groups, Bar
Associations, community organizations, advocacy groups, and similar
organizations. These presentations are provided at no cost, are
educational in nature, and no marketing of our services is presented.
If you would like to schedule a speaker for your organization, please
contact Sarah Locher at 610-648-9300, and we will be happy to arrange
a presentation for you.Read More →
- Services for Exceptional Children in Private Schools On September 26, 2007, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision in Lower Merion School District v. Doe. Read More →
- Federal Court in Pennsylvania Awards Compensatory Education in a Monetary Fund The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently found that a school district’s failure to provide an appropriate educational program required an award of compensatory education, and held that the award of compensatory education must be placed in a fund with a specified monetary amount for the child. Read More →
“We would like to thank you for all you have done for our family over the past several years in helping us navigate the special education maze for our two children. Each step of the way your firm has helped us turn confusion, frustration and sometimes anger into clarity, understanding, and reasoned decisions. This, coupled with your sound counsel, representation and encouragement, has empowered us to become better advocates and to path forward in positive ways for each child. We are so grateful for your representation which has always centered on what is just, meaningful and practical, given the unique needs of our children.”
— Mr. and Mrs. S. |