Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy (EBCALA)
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To attend the cocktail party and to donate, click here
EBCALA Training at the conference click here.
- Legal education on autism issues
- Resources for legal practitioners and advocates
- A “think tank” to strategize about the legal and advocacy needs of the autism community
Autism affects children, parents and their communities with medical, legal, social and educational challenges. Serious unmet needs often begin before a formal diagnosis and extend throughout the lives of the affected individuals, families and communities.
Government leaders and agencies have failed to explore and identify autism’s causes, at-risk populations, and impact.
Using legal and advocacy tools, the Center seeks to identify and address these systemic failures and to achieve greater justice for the injured and their communities.
Specifically, the Center seeks to educate lawyers, parent advocates and others in state-of-the-art legal and medical aspects of autism. Leading attorneys, scientists and advocates will review the most current and critical issues affecting the autism community at periodic conferences.
The Center also seeks to make resources available to assist lawyers and advocates in their work on autism. Over time, we expect to offer a referral service and facilitate pro bono legal services for the autism community.
The think tank will work to map new legal and advocacy strategies to meet the challenges of autism. It will identify and promote practical tools and techniques, develop original legal approaches, partner with existing organizations, produce legal guides, cultivate broader participation, and work to improve the Center.
2009-10 Achievements
Since its inauguration in May 2009, the Center has organized three continuing legal education seminars for lawyers and parent advocates on autism and law; it has submitted amicus briefs in two critical cases related to vaccine injury, one to the Supreme Court in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, one to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Cedillo v. HHS. In addition, the Center has partnered with Pace Law School to undertake a study of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The Center has fielded many requests from parents looking for attorneys or expert witnesses for ASD children in cases in the criminal justice, family law and educational systems. The Center was a key player in forming the Coalition for Vaccine Safety, an alliance of autism and informed consent organizations, that spoke with a single voice to the media in response to the March 2010 Omnibus Autism Proceeding decisions. Board members from the Center have also given lectures, presentations and testimony and have written articles on the legal issues of greatest importance to the autism community [File].
The Center has worked for the last year on an exclusively volunteer basis. The Center has given voice to the autism community before the most important legal tribunals in the country. Based on its record and on its commitment to continue to address the legal needs of the autism community, the Center asks for your generous financial support.
ELIZABETH (LIZ) BIRT 
Elizabeth Birt (1956 - 2005) was one of the earlier advocates who helped shape what would become a community of parent activists committed to finding truth and securing justice for their children. Liz was an attorney, a co-founder of SafeMinds, a founding member of the National Autism Association, a co-founder of A-CHAMP, and a principal author of Mercury in Medicine, the 2003 report by the House Government Reform Committee that found mercury in vaccines was toxic. Liz was a mom. In 1996 Liz’s son, Matthew, then 15-months old, was diagnosed with autism. Liz spent the rest of her life helping her son and other affected children and families. Read more about how Liz’s life here. The Birt Center is founded in her honor to continue her work.
BOARD
Robert Krakow, Esq.
is an attorney in private practice in New York. Bob started his legal career with the New York Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy organization. For nine years in the 1980s Bob was a prosecutor with the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney's office, serving as Bureau Chief of the special narcotics prosecution division. He founded his law firm in 1989, focusing on the trial of civil and criminal cases, and specializing in the representation of individuals injured by exposure to vaccines. Bob represents families of children with autism in a variety of venues, including insurance coverage disputes, vaccine exemption issues, IDEA education disputes with school districts, and claims of educational and medical neglect.
Mary Holland, Esq. 
is Director of the Graduate Legal Skills Program at New York University School of Law. Educated at Harvard and Columbia Universities, Mary has been an advocate in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining NYU, she worked for six years at major U.S. law firms, with three years based in Moscow, Russia. Before that, she directed the European Program of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First). After graduating law school, she clerked for a federal district court judge in New York City. She researches and writes on legal issues related to autism and vaccines and consults to the Aspen Institute Justice and Society Program.
Jennifer Keefe, Esq. 
is a trial lawyer for a major national law firm who has been nominated by her peers four years in a row as one of Texas' Rising Stars in Texas Monthly Magazine (2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009). She assists clients in a wide range of business litigation, including patent infringement-related suits, financial institution disputes, and traditional oil and gas problems. Ms. Keefe has received several awards for her pro bono activities which have ranged from defending asylum cases before the U.S. Immigration courts for Human Rights Initiative of North Texas to advising on the steering committee for both BRAINS for Autism at the University of Texas Southwestern and the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy. She received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
is a trial lawyer for a major national law firm who has been nominated by her peers four years in a row as one of Texas' Rising Stars in Texas Monthly Magazine (2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009). She assists clients in a wide range of business litigation, including patent infringement-related suits, financial institution disputes, and traditional oil and gas problems. Ms. Keefe has received several awards for her pro bono activities which have ranged from defending asylum cases before the U.S. Immigration courts for Human Rights Initiative of North Texas to advising on the steering committee for both BRAINS for Autism at the University of Texas Southwestern and the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy. She received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
Jim Moody, Esq. 
practices public interest law in Washington, specializing in whistleblowers, constitutional law, deregulatory reform and policy, national security, and the promotion of government policies designed to promote liberty and accountability. Born in Kansas City, he is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (artificial intelligence and management) and Georgetown Law School. He is a Director of SafeMinds and the National Autism Association, was one of the coordinators for the Combating Autism Act, supports the Petitioners’ Steering Committee for cases in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and is committed to the goals of justice for vaccine-injured children, research to find the cause, prevention, and treatment for autism, accountability, and institutional reform.
practices public interest law in Washington, specializing in whistleblowers, constitutional law, deregulatory reform and policy, national security, and the promotion of government policies designed to promote liberty and accountability. Born in Kansas City, he is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (artificial intelligence and management) and Georgetown Law School. He is a Director of SafeMinds and the National Autism Association, was one of the coordinators for the Combating Autism Act, supports the Petitioners’ Steering Committee for cases in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and is committed to the goals of justice for vaccine-injured children, research to find the cause, prevention, and treatment for autism, accountability, and institutional reform.
Ed Arranga 
is the father of two beautiful boys, Jarad and Ian. He co-founded AutismOne in 2002 to help facilitate greater awareness and education about the potential causes of autism and the most promising treatments. Ed is a decade-long delayed graduate of Texas A&M University, taking time off to serve in the Coast Guard and study philosophy. He has taught at UCLA and Cal State University, Long Beach schools of continuing education. He is the author of a book and numerous articles on software. While pursuing a graduate degree his son was diagnosed with autism. Inspired by Dr. Rimland and others, Ed works to advance their message of hope and recovery.
Abstracts and more info coming soon.
is the father of two beautiful boys, Jarad and Ian. He co-founded AutismOne in 2002 to help facilitate greater awareness and education about the potential causes of autism and the most promising treatments. Ed is a decade-long delayed graduate of Texas A&M University, taking time off to serve in the Coast Guard and study philosophy. He has taught at UCLA and Cal State University, Long Beach schools of continuing education. He is the author of a book and numerous articles on software. While pursuing a graduate degree his son was diagnosed with autism. Inspired by Dr. Rimland and others, Ed works to advance their message of hope and recovery.
Abstracts and more info coming soon.
EBCALA Keynote: Drs. Andrew Wakefield and Arthur Krigsman
EBCALA Training offers up to 12 Continuing Legal Education Units
| Thursday, May 27, 2010: | |
| 9:00 am - 9:15 | Welcome / Introduction |
| 9:15 am -10:15 | Advocacy in the States: Bills, Candidates, Issues Focusing on Exemptions and Insurance John Gilmore & Louis Conte |
| 10:15 - 11:00 | Autism and Parental Rights Case Review Jennifer Keefe, Esq. & Lisa Colin, Esq. |
| 11:00 - 11:45 | Insurance - The 10 Most Important Things You Need To Know Jodi Bouer, Esq |
| 11:45 - 12:30 | Autism, Law Enforcement and the Role of Expert Witnesses Kim M. Rosenberg, Esq. & C. Rick Ellis, Ed.D. |
| 12:30 - 1:30 | Lunch |
| 1:30 - 2:30 | Vaccine Court - After the Omnibus: Where Are We? Tom Powers, Esq. |
| 2:30 - 3:30 | Federal Preemption and the Vaccine Act; Bruesewitz and the Role of Amici Curiae Collyn Peddie, Esq. & Mary Holland, Esq. |
| 3:30 - 4:30 | Keynote Speakers: The Court of Public Opinion: How Do We Win? Andy Wakefield, MD & Arthur Krigsman, MD |
| 4:30 - 5:15 | Panel Discussion: Determining Our Priorities and How to Accomplish Them? |
