About Kendra Yoch
Legal Assistant: Mindy Irvin | 469-421-6618 | mirvin@thompsonhorton.com
As a former special educator and daughter of a special educator, Kendra brings a practical, student-centered approach to representing schools and has a passion for supporting schools in complex and critical issues and disputes.
Kendra represents educational institutions, including public school districts, charter schools, private schools, and higher education institutions, in a variety of education law matters. Kendra partners with clients to problem solve and innovate related to student issues, including special education, discipline, bullying, records, and free expression. She also supports clients related to harassment investigations, policies and handbooks, and intergovernmental agreements. Kendra has done extensive training and counseling of clients related to the new Title IX sexual harassment regulations.
Kendra serves as lead counsel in special education mediations and due process hearings and represents schools in complaints before the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. She supported a large school district in a significant special education State corrective action matter involving numerous stakeholders. Kendra is a frequent presenter at education conferences.
Prior to joining Thompson and Horton in Dallas, Kendra represented schools in Illinois, and prior to that, she served in the general counsel’s office for the District of Columbia Public Schools, handling hundreds of special education due process complaints. Before attending law school, Kendra taught seventh and eighth grade special education reading and language arts in Houston ISD as a Teach for America corps member. She was a Division I collegiate swimmer and a silver medalist at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. Kendra and her husband are now teaching their two young children to swim.
Education
- J.D., magna cum laude, Georgetown University Law Center, 2007
- M.Ed., University of St. Thomas, 2004
- B.A., cum laude, Davidson College, 2002 (economics)
Licensing & Court Admissions
- Licensed in the states of Texas and Illinois and the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Representative Speeches & Presentations
- Thompson & Horton Webinar: “Collaboration for the Win! Title IX and Special Education” (April 2023)
- Thompson & Horton Webinar: “What You Don’t Know Might Hurt You: Surviving an OCR or DOJ Civil Rights Complaint” (March 2023)
- TCASE Great Ideas: “Avoiding and Addressing Disproportionate Discipline: Legal Requirements and Practical Steps” (Feb 2023)
- TCASE Great Ideas: “Title IX and Special Education: Consultation for the Win” (Feb 2023)
- Region 10 Ed Law Summit: “School Safety and Searches: Legal Requirements and Best Practices” (Dec 2022)
- Education Law Association Annual Conference: “Stay Put Right Where You Are!: The Many Permutations of Pendency under IDEA” (Nov 2022)
- TCASE Interactive 2022: “Top Title IX Special Education Traps: Child Find, MDRs, LGBTQIA, and More” (July 2022)
- Lehigh University Special Education Law Symposium 2022: “Least Restrictive Environment” and “Stay Put Right Where You Are!: The Many Permutations of Pendency under IDEA” (June 2022)
- LRP National Institute 2022: Progress Monitoring: Legal Requirements and Pitfalls (April 2022)
- Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education Winter Conference: Avoiding and Resolving IEP Implementation Glitches (Feb 2022)
- Council for Exceptional Children Convention and Expo 2022: Confronting and Addressing Significant Disproportionality (Feb 2022)
- IAASE Fall Conference: Significant Disproportionality: Legal Compliance and Proactive Steps to Increase Equity (Sept 2021)
- LRP Webinar: Best Practices for IEP Implementation in the Post-Pandemic Landscape (Sept 2021)
- LRP National Institute: The First 90 Days of the Biden/Harris Administration and the Future of Special Education (April 2021)
- IAASE Webinar: Physical Restraint and Seclusion (Nov 2020)
- IAASE Fall Conference: Bullying and Special Education in the New Decade: What You Need to Know Now (Oct 2019)
- IAASE Winter Conference: Too Much Technology? Addressing Legal Concerns Related to the Use of Technology with Students (Feb 2019)