Robert K. Crabtree founded the law firm of Kotin, Crabtree & Strong with Lawrence Kotin in January 1981. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1967, Andover Newton Theological School in 1971, and the Northeastern University School of Law in 1976. As Research Director for the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Education, and with Mr. Kotin, Mr. Crabtree was a principal draftsman of the Massachusetts special-education law and was instrumental in its final passage and impl ementation. Mr. Crabtree has concentrated a substantial part of his practice in the areas of education and special-education law and regularly represents parents of children with disabilities at all levels of the special-education due-process system. Befo re founding Kotin, Crabtree & Strong he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Walter J. Skinner of the United States District Court for Massachusetts and worked in the litigation department of a large Boston law firm.

In addition to his work in education law, Mr. Crabtree represents several for-profit and not- for-profit businesses in their general business and civil litigation matters. These include Work/Family Directions, Inc., a leading national provider of dep endent-care resource development services and consultation in work and family issues; the Federation for Children with Special Needs, a national advocacy organization for children with disabilities; and Boston's Comprehensive School-Age Parenting Program, an organization that provides health, education, and other services to teenage parents to enable them to complete school and become productive citizens.

Mr. Crabtree writes and speaks frequently about issues in special-education and disability law, and, through the Federation and with his partner Mr. Kotin, he has trained hundreds of lay advocates to assist families in their efforts to obtain appropr iate services for children with disabilities. Several recent articles by Mr. Crabtree providing guidance to parents and school professionals working with special-education issues appear on the Internet at www.familyeducation.com, a site operated by the Fa mily Education Network for school systems and families across the nation.