Mr. Sean Edward Pevsner

Sean Pevsner established this law firm with his best friend, Mark Whitburn. They have been best friends since 1986. Mr. Whitburn assisted Mr. Pevsner throughout these years. This firm is one among many goals which they have accomplished together. For more on their story, please visit our news page. Mr. Pevsner is a University of Texas Law graduate with severe cerebral palsy who operates a motorized wheelchair by the use of head movements. Due to his quadriplegia, he cannot write but must rely on an interpreter or a specialized computer to do his work. People underestimated him from the moment that he was born to the present. He was born clinically dead. The anesthesiologist had to administer CPR for 45 minutes until he could breathe on his own. The anesthesiologist probably was thinking this guy is not going to survive as he was administering the CPR, but Mr. Pevsner proved him wrong after those 45 minutes. Mr. Pevsner has been proving people wrong for 41 years. People who were the so called experts said that his life span would be very short. They said he would probably live until he was in his thirties. These people said that he could not go to a regular school, much less take mainstream classes such as Latin, English literature and calculus. Again, he proved them wrong. His grades were A’s and B’s in these mainstream classes. At the end of his high school in 1990, the Arlington Independent School District (AISD) officials projected that he would graduate ahead of their initial plan for his graduation. Originally, they believed that he would graduate at the age of 22. He graduated at the age of 19 in the top 20% of his high school class. Despite all of these achievements, people did not believe that he could attend a major university like the University of Texas at Austin. At this point, his self advocacy skills automatically went into overdrive whenever someone even mentioned the word “can’t” in the same sentence as his name.

• Constitutional Law

• Free Consultation
• Credit Cards Accepted
• Contingent Fees
  My firm accepts contingent fees, but we sometimes require a flat fee. If we prevail, we will reimburse clients the flat fee.
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  My firm's regular fees are 200 per hour with a retainer of $1,200. If we prevail on a civil rights case, we will reimburse clients the fees that they have paid us. Most civil rights laws provide attorney's fees to the prevailing party.

Texas

Since 2011

Partner

Whitburn & Pevsner, PLLC

2012 - Current

• Prevailed in several cases compelling the State of Texas to provide Texas citizens with disabilities with community-based services under Title II the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). • Prevailed in several cases representing group homes for people with disabilities against homeowners’ associations attempting to impose unlawful restrictive covenants on the homes under the federal and Texas Fair Housing Acts. • Assisted a Tarrant County College (“TCC”) student with a disability change the TCC financial aid policy to avoid discriminating against students who need to withdraw from classes due to their disabilities. • Ensured that a high school student with cerebral palsy received appropriate transitioning services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). • Represented several students with disabilities at ARD meetings, ensuring that school districts provided them with appropriate IDEA services.

Equal Justice Works Fellow

Disability Rights Texas, formerly Advocacy Incorporated)

2005 - 2007

• Assisted people with disabilities in employment and education cases during a two-year Equal Justice Works Fellowship by using Titles I & II of the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the IDEA. • Prevailed on an administrative appeal to readmit a person with severe dyslexia into a private law school. • Ensured that a school district provided appropriate IDEA services to a high school student with Down Syndrome. • Authored an employment law manual for seminars taught statewide. Researched the provisions of Title I of the ADA, EEOC regulations and case law interpreting both of these when creating this manual.

Legal Intern

The United States Department of Justice Disability Rights Section

2003 - 2003

• Conducted research and wrote a memo on the conflicts between the HUD regulations and ADA\ABA accessibility guidelines for Justice Department officials. • Composed policy letters and memos in response to inquiries from the general public and federal officials based on my analysis of various regulations promulgated by the Justice Department for Titles II & III of the ADA. • Performed legal research on the relationship between ADA enforcement and contract law in settlement agreements. Prepared a memo based on this research for the Disability Rights Section.

University of Texas - Austin

J.D. | law

2000 - 2004

University of Texas - Austin

B.A. | Greek & Latin

1990 - 1998

American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights

commissioner

2019 - Current

Activities: I served as a panelist on a CLE on the Supreme Court'sg Olmstead decision that ruled the unnecessary institutionalization of people with disabilities constitutes discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

American Bar Association  # 01998957

member

2018 - Current

Tarrant County Bar Association

2012 - Current

State Bar of Texas Disability Issues Committee

Chair

2018 - 2021

Activities: I presented in CLE's to educate Texas attorneys on Special Education she law. I helped create CLE's on supported decision making.

Member of the State Bar of Texas Disability Issues Committee

member

2015 - 2018

Activities: I helped of committee create CLE's to educate Texas attorney attorneys on disability rights cases and laws.

Self-advocacy Speech, October Disability Awareness Speaker Series Event, Steve Hicks UT School it Social Work

October 2, 2017

the Texas Center on Disability Studies at the University of Texas at Austin

Speech on Disability Rights

November 14, 2017

the ARC of the Greater Mid Cities in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Disability Committee of the Denton County Democratic Party’s ADA29 Celebration., Denton County Courthouse

July 26, 2019

Disability Committee of the Denton County Democratic Party

Pennsylvania Bar Association Webinar on the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act., Pennsylvania Bar Association, https://pbi.freestonelms.com/viewer/92HDHPijWdvkLsn8SyBKwUdVLXYknDEcrNJAgy8fjDJ5AKSYgb8c187nyERizyK6XfhGU9jjpzHBK4wP7qhYfSFhaq36h2FoFiWQ

November 12, 2020

Pennsylvania Bar Association

we discussed the goals of the congressional lawmakers who passed the Americans with Disabilities Act and the progress made now.

The Future of Olmstead 2020 and Beyond., American Bar Association webinar, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWMEbfAsAGs

December 9, 2020

American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights

We discussed the future of the SCOTUS decision in Olmstead which ruled that unnecessary institutionalization of people with disabilities constitutes unlawful discrimination under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.