I am a State Licensed Daycare provider for 26 years. However, me like hundreds of other daycare providers have been demoted and this has cau...

Question

I am a State Licensed Daycare provider for 26 years. However, me like hundreds of other daycare providers have been demoted and this has cause financial problems, marriages to break up, assistants to loose their jobs and so on due to a change that they decided to do while having us to believe it was a zoning issue. It wasn't to this November I realized that once I looked over my licenses over the past 26 years that we were lied to. I want to be the first to file a lawsuit and invite others as well once my lawsuit is found reasonable. I do have documents to backup my claim.

Answer

Hi there--I'm so glad you wrote. This issue has reached my attention before in general terms, but you're the first person I've had the chance to hear from directly.

I'm an experienced litigator, former U.S. Justice Dept. civil rights lawyer, now running my own practice, and as it happens also a dad. I'm a U. Va. law graduate and have lived all over the Commonwealth. I practice in D.C., but am a long-time Va. bar member (from the late 80s to the mid-90s I was legal director of the Va. ACLU in Richmond).

The problems you're describing interest me very much, from the viewpoints of caregivers, parents and regulators alike, and cry out for a reasonable solution that allows good care to continue. You've already thought of one great way to do this if the key facts are common to everyone, and that's a class action or some other form of aggregate litigation on behalf of a bunch of folks at once. But almost everything depends on the facts, so we'll want to look at those carefully.

So, I'd like to speak with you, maybe sit down with you for a meeting, listen to the whole story, look at the documents, and start thinking about our options. No fee for my initial consultation, and no set time limit. Of course you can have anyone you trust come and join us. Let's see what we can figure out. I look forward to hearing from you. --Steve Pershing.

Stephen B. Pershing, Esq.

1416 E Street, N.E.

Washington, D.C. 20002

(202) 642-1431

[email protected]/* */

(Admitted in Va. and D.C.)