Reviews

Absolutely the worst experience I've ever had with a legal firm. We were referred to Cedar Law by our therapist after our son was injured at school, hoping for guidance and support. Instead, they refused to even speak with us! To make matters worse, when our therapist reached out for clarification, they had the audacity to accuse us of harassment. They treated a concerned mom—just trying to help her son—horribly. It was beyond unprofessional and left us feeling completely dismissed and betrayed. Now we’ve found a competent lawyer who is actively helping us navigate our situation with the school district. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of Cedar Law—they clearly do not care about their clients or their well-being.

Our relationship with Ryan Ford began when we were seeking advice about Section 504 Plan accommodations and evolved into a difficult Due Process claim against the school district. Ryan and his team have been consistently responsive, professional, and accurate in their guidance and counsel. Our matter had multiple layers of complexity and I believe no other education attorney would have the preparedness, passion, and tenacity to handle the case as successfully as Ryan. I have seen myself, and heard from other parents, how Ryan’s efforts are making districts more compliant with Child Find and IDEA, are giving students more options to access their education, and are helping parents become more aware of the district's breadth of responsibility to serve all students. Ryan has a rare combination of intense intelligence and caring compassion; he will represent parents with legal precision and personal empathy while insisting on the highest standards for the child's education, health, and well-being. After Ryan helped us obtain full compensation on our special education due process case, Ryan and Cedar Law filed a lawsuit against our school district for disability discrimination against our daughter. That case settled and is help funding our child as she goes off to college. If you have a legal dispute with your school district, college, or university, I cannot more strongly endorse Ryan and Cedar Law. I understand that Cedar Law and Ryan have opened a education law firm in California. Parents and students in California and Washington are lucky to have Cedar Law and Ryan on their side.

Chris recently spoke on the phone with my wife during a free phone consultation session. Chris made hurtful comments to her such as "sounds like you can't afford me" and "maybe they just don't like you" - referring to the School District people. My wife is Hispanic and what he said to my wife, was hurtful, rude and obnoxious. Who does he think he is? Are we small people not worthy of his mightiness? My wife asked questions about specific laws and Chris didn't seem to know much about them, despite being an advocate to children's rights. He's a white man, my wife is Hispanic, asking for help, being told she can't afford him. Well, we can. But we won't ever hire anyone from this company because of Chris' hurtful comments. My wife was in distress and we were both stunned by his attitude.We asked ourselves: 'did he sound racist towards us?'.

Consultation: told fees would be $3000 retainer and $300 to $400 hourly rate. Lawyer informed me I sounded like I would not be able afford it. This he based solely on my voice: a voice with a heavy ethnic, non-European accent. Never was my household income discussed at any one point or did he ever pose a question about my household income. It was solely based on presumption. However, indeed these quoted hourly rates are at the high end of hourly fees charged by attorneys. They are above the average rate. I suppose, in the wealthy Seattle areas is where is feasible. I explained my reason for needing a lawyer was due to retaliatory treatment from the school district after complaining about mistreatment against my Special Needs child. His response was: "sounds like they just don't like you, sounds like you have annoyed them". (imagine one gets beaten up by someone and one is told, sounds like you got beaten up because they don't like you, because you annoyed them, as though one would be deserving of being beaten up because they just don't like one).

Vincent Williams was my attorney for 2 speeding tickets he got them both dismissed his communication was excellent I didn’t have to go to court he took care of everything HIRE HIM you will not regret it!

Cedar Law was incredibly responsive. They looked at the issue from multiple sides, made very clear and actionable recommendations, and genuinely cared. I was extremely impressed and will be using them again in the future if needs arise.

What Lara Hruska did for my daughter and myself cannot be put into words, it’s felt with the heart. She was my sounding board when I needed guidance in navigating our situation. And she really wholeheartedly cares. Our community needs more people like her. I think of her often and can not thank her enough for what she did for us. She was/is a godsend.

I do not recommend cedar law because of Lara.

I am a HUGE fan of Chris Williams and Cedar Law. When Edmonds School District directed another parent to file a Protection Order against my ten-year-old (!!) black son without so much as hearing my son's side of the story, Chris & Alex held our hands through the court proceeding where we won handily. Then Chris went after the District and represented us more than capably in our multiple complaints. In every situation Chris was an excellent communicator; he was quick to respond, empathic and explained systems and decisions in ways that we could understand. I cannot imagine having gone through our ordeal without Chris at the helm. I highly recommend him to any family with a special needs child--he GETS IT, and he gets the job done. Thx Chris & Cedar Law!

We hired Lara Hruska last winter after exhausting what options we knew of to get our son the support he needed in SPS. It was the best decision in our entire 5 years with SPS. She has expert insight as a former spec ed teacher and took swift action in our case. Lara is calm, savvy and easy to work with and she resolved our issue with more benefits than we expected. She introduced us to the small, independent school he’ll be going to in the fall where he’ll be embraced. We can’t recommend her services enough.

Pro Bono services for my friend and her son in an effort to protect him from being a victim of the school-to-prison pipeline.