UNION COUNTY FAMILY LAW

This New Jersey family law dispute involved the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) and appropriate placement for plaintiff's son, a student eligible for special education under IDEA. While plaintiff did not prove Newgrange, an out-of-district school, was an appropriate placement, neither did defendant prove the Cranford Alternative Middle School was an appropriate placement. The court denied plaintiff's application for counsel fees and granted defendant's. Since neither party received the relief it sought below, neither party obtained a "judicially-sanctioned change in the legal relationship", neither party prevailed and neither is entitled to fees.  R.G., etc. v. Union Twp. Bd. of Education, U.S. Dist. Ct. September 15, 2006