DEFENSIBLE IEPs SERIES

Defensible IEPs

Where Law, Compliance, and High-Quality IEPs Meet to Strengthen Practice, Reduce Risk, and Lead with Confidence

The Defensible IEPs Series featuring Julie Weatherly, Esq., is designed to help special education leaders, special education teachers, IEP service providers and building level administrators develop, implement, and defend IEPs in alignment with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This series supports leaders in understanding not just what an IEP must include—but why it matters legally, how decisions are evaluated in disputes, and how to reduce risk while maintaining student-centered practice. IEPs sit at the center of special education law. When IEPs are unclear, misaligned, or poorly implemented, districts face increased exposure to: state  complaints, Mediation and due process, and the like.

The CASE Defensible IEPs Series is intentionally designed to help leaders connect legal requirements to daily IEP practice, ensuring decisions are grounded in law, data, and defensible reasoning.

What’s Included in the CASE Defensible IEPs Series

This series includes two offerings, which together, provide a comprehensive legal framework for IEP development and decision-making: Developing Defensible IEPs and The Deeper Dive: IEPs Through a Legal Lens.

Who Should Participate?

Special education directors and administrators
Supervisors and coordinators
Building-level leaders responsible for IEP oversight
District and state-level special education professionals
Leaders involved in dispute resolution, compliance, and monitoring
District and/or building IEP team member professional

Developing Defensible IEPs 

The Legal Foundation

Developing Defensible IEPs focuses on the legal requirements that shape every compliant and defensible IEP under IDEA. Defensible IEPs
Virtual Webinar, featuring Julie Weatherly, Esq. This key foundational legal session is to ensure IEPs are developed and implemented as the LAW intends. 
 
Spend the day learning about the Supreme Court's "Process/Content Standard" for determining the legal appropriateness of an IEP. This session includes a discussion of frequently challenged IEP process and content considerations in IEP development, including:
  • Predetermination of placement versus appropriate meeting preparation
  • The importance of the "I" in IEP and IDEA 
  • Using an appropriate process for making Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) determinations
  • Failure to have legally mandatory IEP team members present at IEP meetings
  • Ensuring meaningful parent input and participation into decision-making
  • Proper use of "Prior Written Notice"
  • Inclusion of appropriate present levels of performance and goals in IEPs
  • Appropriately addressing required "Special Factors" in IEPs, such as, behavioral issues
  • Appropriately addressing transition services
Virtual Webinar Registration Details
August 26, 2026
9:00 AM-4:00 PM      
CASE Members $350
Non CASE Members $450         
  
Register Here
    

The Deeper Dive, 4-Part IEP Series

Advanced Legal Application

 
The Deeper Dive , 4-Part IEP Series is designed for leaders ready to move beyond compliance basics and into complex legal analysis and application.
 
September 3, 2026: Deeper Dive IEP: "Say This Not That"
September 10, 2026: Deeper Dive IEP: Prior Written Notice
October 6, 2026: Deeper Dive IEP: Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans
October 10, 2026: Deeper Dive IEP: Determining Least Restrictive Environment
Registration Information for the Deeper Dive IEP SeriesEach Session is set from 12:00 PM-2:00 PM
 
CASE Members
Non Members
Registration Links
Full Bundle Series (discounted 10% if you purchase the full bundle)
$440
$600
Full Bundle Registration
Individual Sessions
$110
$150
Individual Session Registration
 
 
Guidance for Virtual Learning

Our virtual sessions are designed to deliver world-class professional learning and networking opportunities that support and advance the field of special education leadership. By participating in this virtual event, you agree not to save, record, share, or post any part of the recording or related photos without prior written permission from CASE. The Council of Administrators of Special Education provides remote learning through video communication, and we ask that you respect the privacy and intellectual property rights associated with these recordings.
 
If you attend just two events annually, you will save more than the cost of your CASE membership.
Payment & Refund Policy
  • Individual registrations must be paid by credit card at the time of registration.
  • Purchase orders are only accepted for 10 or more registrations from the same organization. To use a purchase order, please email [email protected] for instructions.
  • Refunds (minus a 25% administrative fee) are available if requested in writing at least one month before the event. No refunds will be issued for requests received after that date.