Disability Rights

Liz Abdnour

Civil Rights • Labor & Employment • Disability Rights • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) • Free Speech • Education, Title IX

Abdnour Weiker LLP
Phone: 517-994-1776
Email: liz@education-rights.com
Website: lawyers4students.com
Prounouns: She/her

  • Liz Abdnour is an experienced and client-centered attorney and advocate who has committed her career to working towards justice and equality for students. Liz's legal expertise includes a vast array of education-focused cases, with claims asserted against schools and institutions in the areas of Title IX, educator rights and employment, special education, k12 school discipline, college code of conduct, disability rights, and childhood sexual assault.

    For the first eight years of her career, Liz worked as a legal services attorney, representing low-income individuals in Ohio in a variety of civil legal matters. Liz spent two years as the supervising attorney of a domestic violence and protection order clinic jointly operated by a legal aid organization and a law school. Liz then transitioned to working as an institutional equity coordinator and senior investigator at Michigan State University, handling investigations and providing training to the campus community on civil rights and Title IX matters.

    In 2018, Liz launched an education-focused law firm in Lansing, Michigan to fight for justice on behalf of student and educator clients. During this time, Liz assisted hundreds of clients seek justice for violations of their rights by their school, their university or their employer. In 2023, Liz joined forces with AW to expand the impact of her experience and advocacy, now leading the firm’s Title IX and Education Litigation teams in Ohio and Michigan, and in federal courts nationwide.

    Liz also provides investigative, consulting, and training services and is an experienced trainer, writer, and public speaker. The combination of Liz's legal experience and her years as an internal university investigator and administrator at Michigan State University during the height of the Larry Nassar investigation give her unparalleled expertise regarding educational institutions' obligations with respect to civil rights and Title IX response.

Nicole B. Godfrey

Civil Rights • Disability Rights • Landlord & Tenant

Michigan State University College of Law
Phone: 517-432-6961
Email: nicole.godfrey@law.msu.edu
Pronouns: she/her

  • I just moved to Michigan to join the faculty at Michigan State University College of Law, where I direct the Housing Justice Clinic. Right now, the clinic's work will be focused on federal court matters challenging housing discrimination under federal civil rights statutes.

Cary McGehee

Civil Rights • Labor & Employment • Disability Rights • Police Misconduct • LGBTQI+ • Juvenile • Personal Injury • Prisoner Rights

Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers
Phone: 248-321-0565
Email: cmcgehee@pittlawpc.com
Website: pittlawpc.com
Pronouns: she/her/hers

  • I have been a member of the NLG since law school and support and admire its commitment to progressive advocacy.

Michael J. Steinberg

Civil Rights • Disability Rights • Police Misconduct • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) • Religious Liberty • Reproductive Rights • Free Speech

Civil Rights Litigation Initiative, University of Michigan Law School
Phone: 734-615-2407
Email: mjsteinb@umich.edu
Website:michigan.law.umich.edu/academics/experiential-learning/clinics/civil-rights-litigation-initiative
Pronouns: he/him/his

  • - Guild member since first day of law school in 1985

    - Former legal director of the ACLU of Michigan (1997-2019)

    - Former President of the Ann Arbor Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (1993-1997)

    Bio: https://michigan.law.umich.edu/faculty-and-scholarship/our-faculty/michael-j-steinberg