WORTH EVERY PENNY! Crowd fund if you have to. I am serious. I used them in 2019. They stopped the San Jose Unified School District from constantly putting my child's life in danger. They even got them to provide bussing, which they had refused to offer months into school. My child would be dead if it were not for this Law Firm. I came to them terrified, and bereft of hope. I left empowered, confident & my child being no longer actively put into life and death danger. They even got her teachers to actually read her IEP, which they had refused to do even though I give her new teachers a printed copy of her IEP because I knew most school policies keep the IEP's in the office and the teachers can't leave the office with those copies. Her teacher admitted to never having read my kids IEP ~1/2 way into the school year. They even caught additional areas the district was out of compliance and corrected it. read more

We were deceived to pay $5,000 in advance and we did not get any help. He just reviewed the documents of the educational plan of our son and recommended some private special education school at which Mr.Tollner is a chairmam. He talked to us only at the initial meeting for an hour and then disappeared. We are looking for money back because he did not bother to work for us. Still waiting for a call back to clarify our concerns and money. Luca Grella Irena Tsankova read more

Warning to parents considering this law firm. The blatantly disregard, disrespect and unprofessionalism we experienced for my child's education on disability concerns and time sensitive issues was completely disregarded. I too was impressed by the positive reviews and extensive experience. If you're a parent like me overwhelmed fighting to protect your child future DO NOT Trust this firm. They gave me false hopes and lead me to believe they would help only wasted valuable time that has now affected my due process rights. This is not a firm who cares to advocate for your children. I submitted and paid for them to review my case back and forth submitting over 180 documents. Paid for this firm to review my case. I was given an appointment follow up that never happened. My legal options were never discussed after months of communication. Days before my scheduled appointment I was notified that the attorney assigned to review and follow up with me whom I had communicated with; Had left the firm. Leaving my case without review or representation. No follow up was provided. No referral and no support not even a phone call! This firm was aware of the urgency and time sensitive situation but didn't care. I repeatedly asked them to provide a referral, April Larkin didn't have the decency to even return a call. Instead she sent copied and pasted an old outdated email that contained misinformation. Kelly Chacon the assigned attorney never responded. She left our case high and dry. DO NOT Trust This Law Firm with your child's future. read more

I was referred to Marc, a senior attorney at this firm who seemed to be very knowledgable and understanding. Unfortunately I was passed off to Kelly, a second year associate who is barely competent in the law. I paid $4,000 for Kelly to "review documents" and write a letter to the district. I was then advised that if I didn't agree to allow the district to perform additional assessments instead of the requested IEE, that I would have to come up with $20k to retain this firm to represent me in a due process hearing (even though the district responded untimely and was in violation of the law for failing to assess all areas of need). When I asked the firm to close my file and return the balance of my retainer, Kelly did not respond until my third email and did not express any concern or question why I was discharging the firm. Really disappointing and a waste of time and money. read more

We have been with Tollner Law offices for 3 years. We are very happy with their service. There are several attorneys that collaborate very well with each other. They are all very professional, smart, and they understand our struggles. They are considerate about our cost when charging on tasks and time. They explain situations and prep us patiently with what we need to know. We mainly work with David. He is extremely intelligent, has integrity, and has a kind heart with passion to help the needed. We trust him 100%. It has been a long road, filled with uncertainties and variables. There were times that we felt beaten by the failed system. David had shielded us from most of the stress, anxiety, and worries in dealing with them. He led us through it with his experience, expertise, brilliance, resourcefulness, great insights into the "system", and impeccable strategy. He knew them inside out and he knew how they were going to fail. He was always thinking ahead. The end result came out better than we expected. All the time and effort we put in was well worthwhile. Our children are our greatest investment no matter who they are. David and his associates became the crucial partner that helped us navigate through this challenging landscape for children with special needs, and found the best educational path and support for our son. We highly recommend TLO. Note: They never take anyone seriously except for when you get an attorney, then they know you mean business. Otherwise, you will be pushed around, ignored, tricked, anything they can do to get away with it. read more

David is a very heartfilled and caring person who will deliver results! We found David and his staff online after going through some wild issues to say the least. Anytime your child is involved there is a level of care and concern that requires the simply the best! David and Amanda were outstanding. David especially works from his heart and is very caring! He is completely empathetic and delivers results. read more

James Sibley was an amazing resource for help with our child who is on the spectrum and was being bullied at school. His extensive knowledge and experience in the legal and education system were invaluable in providing us with expert guidance. Mr. Sibley promptly returned calls and fulfilled his commitments to us on time every time. I would highly recommend him to anyone. He was very understanding and caring and put us at ease knowing we had him in our corner. read more

Absolute worst experience. This is regarding Sibley only. He is very arrogant and ended up getting us a very poor outcome. He was extremely unprofessional. We finally have a great attorney now who is fixing the mess that this firm created. read more

This is a long overdue review I'm very new to Yelp so racking my brain on who I want to review and share my experience with and this attorney is one of them! I was having some issues with my daughter and her schooling. I scheduled a consultation with Mr Tollner to came in to get some advice. There was no mention of any consultation fee while scheduling with his receptionist no mention of any consultation fee while in session with him or even after, for that matter. So you could imagine my shock when I did however receive a bill in the mail for $275 per hour x two hours totaling $550 needless to say I almost had a heart attack. I didn't get anywhere calling to attempt to dispute this. I had to write a letter disputing the charges send a certified return receipt and all that and they responded stating that they apologize for the misunderstanding. I was very thankful for that, but I have to admit it added a lot of stress to my life there for a while. Mr Tollner was very professional in our meeting and was willing to take our case, seemed very knowledgeable and willing, but his fees were a little more than my husband and I were willing to spend on the dispute at hand. If his estimate was a little more reasonably priced we would have went with him. Now I look back I'm relieved we didn't because we were able to handle everything on our own, very easily, with a little bit of guidance and direction on where and how and file papers. I would go back, but this time all if there are fees! read more

Mr. Tollner was very professional, knowledgeable and helpful in advising me on my case and provided me with a referral.

Tollner Law Offices are top notch!! My wife and I used them and had great results! We were referred to TLO from a friend who had used them and were successful with their case. After our initial meeting with David we knew he was our guy!! David's coaching and guidance throughout the process was much needed. As the parent you want everything to move quickly...however the other side might not be on the same schedule. David did a great job of keeping us informed throughout the process and helped keep us at ease. David's knowledge of the law and strategies helped keep us one step ahead as we worked through our case. He listened to our needs, aligned them with our goals and ensured we had the right plan in place. The most important part of the entire process with David was...we won!!! read more

Devan has changed our lives. The best decision we have ever made was to hire Devan with Tollner Law. She fought hard for my son and really was there through every step. She encouraged us when things got a little rough, was very supportive and never backed down. She was able to help us with a settlement and also we were able to switch schools so that son could get the educational support he really needed. We fought for years, ever since my son was in kindergarten, with both the school and the district. We never got anywhere. They finally put him on an IEP but it was mainly just to try to get us to stop making noise. But we didn't stop and kept going. My son would constantly say he hated school and did not want to go. That has all changed. He was able to be placed in a different school and now is a whole new kid. He can't wait to go to school and is so happy. We cannot thank Devan enough for all her hard work, reading my millions of emails and taking all my calls. She is very passionate about what she does and truly cares. Thank you will never be enough. Torrance, CA read more

I had thee most wonderful experience with this law firm! I spoke with James Sibley who was so well informed, asked all the right questions and walked me through how to resolve my issue. I am grateful and would recommend anyone see them! read more

We have used David and his staff for over 3 years now and can't be any happier with the results we have gotten! Highly recommend this law firm for any help you need with special needs. read more

My initial phone consult with David was very helpful in setting up expectations for pricing estimates. Amanda O'Neal took the lead on our case and was very helpful from the start, showing compassion but also being thorough in answering any questions we had about strategy, timelines, possible outcomes, cost, etc. She was straight to the point, made efficient use of time, and supported all of our decisions. She was always prompt in responses and honest if she thought a certain task would take a significant amount of time so that we could consider all options thoroughly. We were able to get the outcome we were looking for and are so glad that Amanda was there to help and guide us through one of the most stressful time in our lives. read more

I am so so glad that I called Tollner Law offices. David is very professional, & understood what I wanted as a parent for my child's education & was ready to help me fight for it. Today was the first IEP meeting with him attending and the complete change in everyone's demeanor at this IEP meeting was astonishing. I went from being a complete wreck about the situation to feeling extremely positive about the potential outcome with my sons IEP thanks to David. I would recommend him to anyone no doubt about it. read more

Tollner Law Offices are great and have great Special Education Lawyers. They are extremely competent and get the job done. Talked to one of the lawyers on the phone today. He went above and beyond. Thank you so much! God bless you. read more

It took us 6 years to break down and engage an attorney in pursuing issues related to our son's education. If we'd known just how helpful David Tollner and his associates would be, we wouldn't have waited so long. I hope this review will encourage others to act faster than we did and to feel confident trusting this law firm. David Tollner and Sarah Fairchild are knowledgeable, compassionate, dedicated and savvy. They were patient in explaining options and special education law to us. They were respectful of our emotional ups and downs as we battled to get our son's most basic educational needs met by school district personnel that wouldn't even listen to us. They were supportive every step of the way. As a result of their expertise, our son is now -- finally -- receiving an appropriate education that truly meets his needs. He is thriving in ways he never has before. It is a night and day difference, one that was worth fighting for and one we could never have achieved on our own. It is not an exaggeration to say that David Tollner may have saved a life by doing all he did in our situation. We had begun to feel utterly hopeless about getting our son an appropriate education until the day we first met with him. In addition to leading the legal battle, he gave us the courage and strength to fight the emotional battle and to access reserves we didn't even know we had. read more

As an attorney myself, it's new and different for me to be consuming legal services. Very insightful. David and his associate, Sarah, are thoughtful, ethical, professional and really listen well. I feel completely safe and trusting going through a very personal and painful process with David representing us. So many times I feel like we would have taken the wrong steps, but for his guidance navigating these perilous waters. This is about our kid. It doesn't get much harder than that, and I feel totally supported. read more

David tollner has helped us tremendously in the past couple of years to get services from school district for our Autistic daughter!!! He is very knowledgable ,professional and efficient. He is very compassionate in defending families Rights. I highly recommend him to anyone who has a hard time dealing with school district to get services for their child. read more

David and his team are the best in the business. David is extremely capable, reassuring and knows exactly what to do and how to work with school districts and their lawyers. He is so supportive and extremely professional. It was a painful journey with our child, but having David to guide us on every step led to a very successful conclusion, for which we are forever grateful. I highly recommend David and Tollner Law Offices. read more

David is amazing. I had a very complex case where he assisted in proving guidance of strategy and execution timing... In the end my children's educational and emotional needs were met by district avoiding a potential of a huge personal financial commitment and loss. read more

It's hard to even know how to express our gratitude to Jim Sibley for all his amazing work on our behalf working with the schools on our son's disability. We knew we needed help navigating the IEP process and we were getting all kinds of resistance from the school and Jim's representation and consultation were invaluable. He has brought so much experience and knowledge to the process and was able to secure a favorable outcome for us that we weren't sure was possible. It's so great to know we have him in our corner and we're incredibly grateful we found him. We recommend his services very highly. read more

David Tollner is simply amazing! As a single mom who was lost with what to do for my son and his educational needs, David made everything very clear. Just a few words I would use to describe David are... knowledgeable, professional, direct, respectful, compassionate, efficient, open minded.. and the list goes on. I HIGHLY recommend him if you are having a difficult time with receiving special education services for your child. He is one of the best, and when I come across parents who might mention they are having difficulty with a school district, he's the one I will recommend. read more

I have dealt with many many different types of lawyers over the years ( bankruptcy, divorce, social security, civil, ) and got one of my degrees ( philosophy) in order to prepare for law school because frankly, I HATE lawyers so I wanted to be one in order to protect myself and help others. So, that aside, I have to say that as soon as I met and interviewed David, I knew he was one of the few ,"good ones." He has everything a good attorney needs: Brilliance, honesty, integrity, excellent strategizing, and most importantly: Compassion. He really cares and he hardly ever says " never". He is a take no prisoners, no holds barred lawyer who advocates and never gives up. He will tell you the truth and will try to figure out a way when others tell you," No way!". So, if you are tired of being pushed around by a district and your kid is suffering, David's your guy. I could have said this in a more eloquent and less abrupt fashion, we have been through so much with SJUSD and were relieved that we were able to come to a satisfactory ending. Thanks again David! read more

Dave is a compassionate and astute lawyer who is well familiar with the district policies and what the families needs in getting FAPE for their children. He is a well -informed and aggressive defender of families rights, and helps create a level playing field for the families. There are not many lawyers focused on special education cases and Dave is one of the best out there. read more

Tollner Law Offices were very helpful. My son is Dyslexic and we were unable to get the help we needed from the school district. Amanda worked my case and we came up with a strategy of how to best support my son and she was able to get my son what he needed. I can't say enough about how professional and helpful they were with my situation. We had fought for 6 years with no success and Amanda and her team got us the help we needed in and paid for in 5 months. They are amazing. Had I known how effective Tollner Law Offices were I wouldn't have waited so long to get legal help. They really care about you and your child and it was my experience that they were very honest about the outcome. read more

David Tollner has assisted us over the past 8 years as we have untangled many issues with two different school districts in San Mateo County. He is flexible, open minded,professional, efficient and direct while respecting the values and opinions of all parties involved. Highly recommend him if you are dealing with a contentious situation. read more

This is my second review for TLO. The combination of experience the lawyers provide in navigating special education, regional center services,and mental health delivery system is outstanding! I am the parent of a teen with ASD who has a dual diagnosis. This past week I asked TLO to support and advocate through a crisis situation that blocked me and my private providers from supporting my son's care. Having TLO attorneys present is reassuring because they understand the public agencies, they are sympathetic and experienced in the challenges parents face, and know how to best offer support. No words are adequate to thank them for helping us through this. read more

I recently had to deal with other attorneys which reminded me again how wonderful, honest & hard working Mr. David Tollner is why oh why can't other attorney's represent you like Mr. Tollner. Therefore, I just had to write a new review that once again states the obvious Mr. David Tollner is an amazing honest attorney oh yes I said two words in the same sentence honest & a attorney you rarely read those words together!!! read more

I can't say enough about Tollner Law Offices, more specifically Amanda O'Neal. I have a daughter with dyslexia and after being diagnosed in the 2nd grade, I struggled to find the best help possible for my child. After many years of fighting with the public school system, I was desperate. In my daughter's junior year of high school, it became very clear that she wasn't on the path to graduate high school. She wasn't academically incapable of passing her classes, but she just needed the right kind of support and modifications that adapted to her learning disability. I reached out to Tollner Law Offices and Amanda was happy to jump into this case with both feet. Her personal passion for the law and helping those children who have an IEPs was remarkable. She never gave up. When I started to feel like I didn't have it in me to fight, she did the fighting for me and my daughter. She had great ideas about how to help my daughter. She left the public school system in November, went to private school who knows how to support children like my daughter, and is finishing her senior year with over a 3.0. She is graduating high school tomorrow! I owe Amanda O'Neal to thank for that. She saved my daughter, literally. She was able to get her placed in the right environment and she did it with the utmost professionalism and passion. read more

David Tollner and his associates are amazing attorneys. The dedication and genuine care they have shown for our child, family and unique situation has been reassuring in an environment of such distrust. David truly understood what our needs were. He also recognized the importance of ensuring that our school district fulfilled it's responsibilities to provide our child with the appropriate services after they had been denied over and over again. I have great respect and trust in the Tollner Law Firm and would recommend them to anyone facing the possibility of due process. David is very knowledgable of Special Education Law and has many years of experience in the system used to help families receive FAPE as required by law. I could not have been more pleased with the outcome of our case, thanks to David Tollner and his associates. Our child now has a fair chance at accessing her education and receiving desperately needed therapies and services. read more

David Tollner has been amazing for our family and for our 9 year old son who is on the autism spectrum. David has an incredible knowledge of special education law and an even more incredible compassion for families and children with special needs. He is down to earth and approachable and was always honest and fair with us about our case, our rights and what our son was entitled to. We spent 2 years battling with the school system for services for our son and finally went to see David. Within 4 months of our first meeting with David we went to hearing and mediation and secured a private placement paid for by the district as well as reimbursement from the district for most of our attorney's fees and expenses. It was David's constant battling for what was right for our child that won us this amazing school placement. Not only did David win the placement but along with our psychologist he helped identify the private placement as the best one for our son. And he was right. Our son is thriving like we never imagined. David not only understands the law, but he understands the needs of kids with special needs and those two things together make him an amazing attorney. We feel so grateful to have found David Tollner and for what he did to help our son and our family. read more

David's services were exceptional in the area of special education. He's one person you should have on your side, when it comes to dealing with school districts. I was traumatized by the school system's aggressive behavior, at times intimidating!!! But David deals with a big heart. Be transparent with him in everything and he'll be your best advocate. He trusts parent's instincts and will provide resolution backed by data. IEP meetings went a lot smoother with his representation and in the end we got what we wanted!!! An IEP designed for our child's learning needs and I can't be more happy with the services he provided. He was very professional, down to earth, trustworthy and "your best advocate". He was also very astute in channeling arguments, resulting in getting an aid, to help my child with classwork. Experience, smartness and sharpness were all intertwined in David's arguments, which helped us win in the end!!! I strongly recommend his services for ALL learning needs of your children. Words are not enough to thank him for all his help and support. read more