Frances Shefter is an Education Attorney and Advocate who is committed to helping her clients have a stress-free IEP experience.

Before attending law school, Frances was a teacher for nine years.  She has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from Towson University and a M.S. in Special Education from Florida International University.  For seven years she taught regular and special education and for two years she ran the Special Education Department.  In these positions she attended and ran several Individualized Education Plan meetings and Child Study Team meetings, did observations and developed behavior modification plans, attended and ran manifestation hearings, monitored implementation of IEPs, 504s and behavior modification plans, and administered and helped to interpret various evaluations.  These experiences have given her inside knowledge that is invaluable to assisting parents and guardians in seeking a Free Appropriate Public Education for their child.

Frances is currently admitted to practice law in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Florida (inactive).  She started her legal career in Florida practicing family law.  However, she always knew that her heart was in special education.  Shortly after moving back to the DMV area, she opened her law firm to help serve families of children with special needs.

Her background puts her in a unique position at any IEP table.  She is the only person at the table that can say she has been in almost every position that makes up the team.  She has been the regular education teacher, the special education teacher, the LEA designee, the attorney and the mom.  This enables her to communicate with the rest of the team in a more persuasive manner.

Shane has worked in the administrative field for 7 years while obtaining his business management qualification. He began his journey from humble beginnings as an administrator and manager of a veterinary clinic to handling multi-chain retail outlets to finally finding himself in law firms. This is where he obtained skills such as becoming an Intake specialist, learning how different fields of law operate, and the day-to-day management of a law firm. This gives him the ability to successfully navigate through various systems and platforms and to have the confidence of being at the front lines and first contact for new and former clients. In February 2022, he finally found himself at Shefter Law, PA as the firm’s administrative assistant, receptionist and intake specialist, aiding Shefter Law, PA to help families truly have a Stress-Free IEP™ experience.

Lateefah S. Williams is a Senior Attorney, practicing Special Education Law, at Shefter
Law, P.A. She has more than 20 years of legal experience, most of which has been in
the public/nonprofit sector. Prior to joining Shefter Law, Lateefah served as an Assistant
General Counsel at the National Association of Government Employees for seven
years. Before that, she was appointed as a community engagement specialist for the
DC Office of the Attorney General by DC’s first elected Attorney General. She has also
held positions as the political and legislative director for Amalgamated Transit Union,
Local 689 and as a nonprofit speech rights analyst for OMB Watch/Center for Effective
Government.

Lateefah has also been very active in the community. She is a former president of
DC’s Gertude Stein Democratic Club (now Capitol Stonewall Democrats). During that
same timeframe, she also served as the Mid-Atlantic region representative on the
Young Democrats of America Judicial Council and as National Committeewoman for the
DC Young Democrats. She has also held executive board positions in DC’s Ward 5
Democrats and the Metropolitan Women’s Democratic Club. In 2012, Lateefah was
elected and served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention for President
Barack Obama. From 2011-2020, she was a board member for the Wanda Alston
Foundation, which provides housing and wrap-around services for unhoused LGBTQ
youth in Washington, DC.

Lateefah holds a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a
Bachelor of Arts degree in English, media-journalism concentration, from North Carolina
Central University. Lateefah is licensed to practice law in Maryland and the District of
Columbia.