Pete Wright, Esq.

About The Lecturer

Pete Wright is an attorney who represents children with special educational needs. His advocacy grew out of his personal educational experiences.

Pete represented Shannon Carter before the U. S. Supreme Court in Florence County School District Four v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7 (1993) - the Court issued a unanimous decision on Shannon's behalf.

Pete is the co-author of Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 3rd Ed. (2023), Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind (2003), Wrightslaw: IDEA 2004, (2005), Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2nd Ed. (2005), Wrightslaw: All About IEPs (2009), Wrightslaw: All About Tests and Assessments (2014), and the Year in Review Series - Wrightslaw: Special Education Legal Developments and Cases.

He appeared as the parent's attorney in the award-winning DVD video, Surviving Due Process: When Parents and the School Board Disagree - Stephen Jeffers v. School Board (2004).

Pete Wright began representing children with special needs in April, 1978 when he was admitted to the Virginia State Bar.

While in the second grade, Pete was diagnosed with learning disabilities including dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD. He was fortunate - his learning problems were identified early. His parents obtained intensive Orton-Gillingham remediation for him by Diana Hanbury King.

Pete's determination to help children grew out of his own educational experiences.

Pete attended public school in the city limits of Washington, DC from Kindergarten through the eleventh grade at which time he had a "D" average. His focus was on the football field and the boxing ring, where he excelled in both sports. Before his senior year, his parents enrolled him in Moses Brown School, a Quaker boarding school located in Providence RI. As a condition of entry, he repeated the eleventh grade. In his senior year, he was co-captain of the football team and was "All New England" in football and track.

He then attended Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA.

While attending R-MC, Pete worked in a Juvenile Training School as a houseparent. After graduation with a B.A. degree in Psychology in 1968, he worked in another Juvenile Training School as a counselor and later became a Juvenile Probation Officer in the Juvenile Court system. In 1972, he was honored by the Virginia Juvenile Officer's Association, (now known as VJJA) as Virginia's "Juvenile Probation Officer of the Year."

During that time, Pete also attended evening college in a graduate psychology program at Virginia Commonwealth University where he earned 30 credit hours toward a master’s degree in psychology. He was 2 credit hours short of earning his master’s degree and instead, in August, 1975, Pete shifted his focus and enrolled in law school.

In December, 1977, Pete graduated from T. C. Williams Law School at the University of Richmond with a J.D. degree. After passing the February, 1978 Bar Exam, Pete became licensed to practice law in Virginia in April, 1978. He is a member of the Virginia Bar, in good standing and remains licensed to this date. In 2005, because of his extensive travel and training schedule, he discontinued his law practice.

On October 6, 1993, before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), Pete provided Oral Argument on behalf of his client, Shannon Carter. Thirty-four days later, the Court issued a unanimous decision for Shannon. See Florence County School District IV v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7 (1993).

In 2003, the Richmond Times-Dispatch published an in-depth article about Pete and Pam Wright titled "Paradise at end of the road - Champion of special-ed children still doing good while having more fun."

https://www.wrightslaw.com/news/2003/champion.lohmann.htm

Brent Staples, of the New York Times, on June 26, 2003, referred to Pete as a Champion for Children.

https://www.wrightslaw.com/conf/newsclips/2003NewYorkTimes.champion.pdf

More clippings dated back to 1983 are at:

https://www.wrightslaw.com/conf/newsclips/

In 2005, while the SCOTUS, Schaffer v. Weast, special education burden of proof case was pending, the National Council on Disability (NCD) (www.ncd.gov) contracted with Pete Wright to prepare a "Policy Paper" for submission to the Court as a part of their role being the federal agency concerned with national issues regarding disabilities.

The "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Burden of Proof: On Parents or Schools?" was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on July 25, 2005 and is located on Wrightslaw at: 

https://www.wrightslaw.com/ncd/wright.burdenproof.pdf

On January 5, 2017, Pete Wright trained approximately 200 Office of Civil Rights attorneys and staff investigators about the interrelationship between IDEA, Section 504 and ADA. On April 16, 2019 he again provided training to the OCR attorneys and staff about disability case law.

He appeared as the parent's attorney in in the award-winning DVD video, Surviving Due Process: When Parents and the School Board Disagree - Stephen Jeffers v. School Board (2004).

https://www.wrightslaw.com/store/dpdvd.html

For three semesters, as Adjunct Faculty, Pete and Pam Wright taught "Special Education Law" at the William & Mary School of Law in order to assist with the creation of their Special Education Law Clinic (PELE Clinic).

In addition, for approximately ten years thereafter, each summer, they taught at the week-long Institute of Special Education Advocacy (ISEA) Clinic at the Law School.

They now teach at the St. Mary's University Law School's Special Education Advocacy Summit (SEAS) in San Antonio, TX, each summer.

https://www.wrightslaw.com/speak/reg/26.07.SEAS.flyer.pdf

Pete and Pam are the founders of Wrightslaw, the #1 ranked website about education law, special education law, and special education advocacy. (Alexa rankings)

Publications

Books + Video:

Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 3rd Edition

Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2nd Edition

Wrightslaw: All About IEPs

Wrightslaw: All About Tests and Assessments, 2nd Edition

Surviving Due Process: Stephen Jeffers v. School Board
 

SCOTUS:

Three Generations of Dyslexia at the U. S. Supreme Court

The Untold Story of Florence County School Dist. IV v. Carter, 510 U. S. 7 (1993)

Education

Randolph-Macon College, BA

T. C. Williams Law School at the University of Richmond, J.D.