AUGUSTIN EGELSEE - Key Persons
Aly joined our office in May 2018 as a paralegal. Being a mother of three and also having family members with special needs, she understands how hard it can be for parents to navigate the school system and get children with special needs the help that is required for their academic and social progress.
She brings with her many years of experience in the Retirement Services Industry as a Contract Analyst/Paralegal. She has experience with pro-bono work for Alliance for Children's Rights; a non-profit organization in Los Angeles which focuses on providing representation to children in the foster care system. She has worked on assisting foster parents through the process of completing documents and submitting the necessary adoption paperwork to the courts, seeing the process through to completion of the adoption of their foster children.
Additionally, Aly is bilingual and assists with our Spanish speaking clients. Aly is dedicated to excellence and is an integral part of our team here at Augustin Egelsee, LLP.
Danielle Augustin is a co-founding managing partner of Augustin Egelsee, LLP. Ms. Augustin is an attorney who provides zealous advocacy to children and families throughout California and has been practicing law for over 20 years. Her legal practice focuses solely on the issues related to special education and expulsions. She provides legal representation at all stages of the educational process, including suspensions, expulsion hearings, involuntary transfers, IEP meetings, 504 meetings, resolutions sessions, mediations, due process hearings, appeals and federal matters. Ms. Augustin's long-standing experience in these areas provides students and families with high quality legal representation.
Ms. Augustin has provided special education advocacy training to C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocates), C.H.A.D.D. (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) foster parent groups, and The Epilepsy Network of Orange County among many others. She is also appointed as co-counsel in dependency matters through the Los Angeles Superior Court to represent the education interests of children within the dependency system. Ms. Augustin has also been member of the Orange County Superior Court Special Education Panel starting in 2004, where she was appointed by the court to represent children within the delinquency and dependency courts to protect their educational interests. She has also testified as an expert witness in the area of special education in the Orange County Superior Court. Additionally, she provides MCLE training to attorneys in the area of special education.
Previously, Ms. Augustin spent four years as a Deputy District Attorney for the County of Orange. As a prosecutor, she handled various aspects of a variety of cases including Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Elder Abuse, Stalking, Assault, Battery, Theft, Burglary, Driving under the Influence, Drugs, Restraining Order Violations and Truancy. Additionally, she was the Domestic Violence Deputy at the Central Justice Center handling more than five hundred cases throughout her year assignment. She has conducted trainings on Domestic Violence and Driving Under the Influence cases to numerous police departments throughout Orange County.
Ms. Augustin has also trained most Orange County School Districts and numerous police officers in the area of Education Law, specifically in the area of Truancy. She helped pioneer the Truancy Response Project within the Orange County District Attorney's office. Through her nearly two year assignment as the Truancy Deputy, she conducted parent and student meetings with hundreds of families throughout Orange County dealing with the effects of truancy and education. Additionally, she was named the 2000 Diligent Prosecutor by M.A.D.D.
Ms. Augustin was the recipient of the Wallace R. Davis graduation award for her excellence in public Service, Leadership and Academics. She was also honored as a Distinguished Student and served on the Western State University School of Law Bar Association as Secretary of the student body. Additionally, she served as Chair-Person for the Honor Code Committee and pioneered the fundraising of hundreds of new books for a local elementary school. She has also volunteered as a teacher for the Orange Outreach Program. This program specifically targets fifth grade students and encourages them to make the Right Choice by covering numerous areas of the legal system. She has additionally participated in the D.A.R.E. program speaking to students about the consequences of drug use, violence, gangs and peer pressure and has spoken to hundreds of students about juvenile law through the J JET (Juvenile Justice Education Together) program.
Ms. Augustin has been married for over 27 years and has been blessed with four amazing children. As a mother of a child with Autism and ADHD, she understands the deep struggles families endure navigating the educational system, providing needed and effective advocacy so that children can thrive.
Edwin Egelsee is an attorney with a genuine commitment to provide high quality legal representation to children. As the most powerless victims in our society, Mr. Egelsee believes that children should be afforded the strongest representation. Mr. Egelsee is a fluent Spanish speaker and takes great pride in providing representation to families whose primary language is Spanish.
Mr. Egelsee is a zealous and impassioned child advocate which will defend the rights of children that have been violated by all available means necessary. He provides trainings in the area of special education for the Court Appointed Special Advocates, ("CASA") at the Los Angeles County Children's Court. He is appointed as co-counsel in dependency matters for the purposes of protecting the educational interests of foster children in Los Angeles. He continues to provide trainings and workshops for such Parent Groups as Conexiones Educativa, Fiesta Educativa, Somos Una Voz, Padres Con Poder, ALMA Family Center and Grandparents As Parents. He has conducted MCLE trainings in Special Education Law with the Los Angeles County Barrister's Bar Association to attorneys and judges. Mr. Egelsee was a featured presenter at the 9th Annual Partnership Conference for Children held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. There, he gave a presentation entitled "Unwarranted Disciplinary Actions Towards Children With Special Needs in the Foster Care System," Partnership Presentation.
Job Titles:
- Legal Assistant
- Office Manager
Sheila joined our office after many years of experience working with children. Having been married for over 30 years and blessed with 5 beautiful children, several grandchildren, as well as having run her own day care, she brings tremendous and invaluable insight to our office. Prior to joining Augustin Egelsee, she worked for several years as a teachers' assistant in a mild/moderate special day class to address the needs of students who required additional support. This was an invaluable experience, providing her with additional firsthand knowledge of what it means to have a child with "special needs".
The daily contact with our clients over the past 13 years with Augustin Egelsee has given Sheila even more passion for assisting families in finding the appropriate placement and services for their children. She has gained tremendous insight into the legal field of special education and juvenile justice through helping families navigate stressful situations. She is an integral member of our team and ensures our office runs smoothly and efficiently. Sheila believes it is a privilege to work on behalf of families' most precious commodity, their children.
"Each of us here at Augustin Egelsee are not here merely to do a job, but to provide a much needed service to our children and their families. I am privileged to be a part of such a wonderful team of professionals." -Sheila Gibert
We are dedicated to helping children and parents who are struggling with educational institutions. Juvenile attorneys Danielle Augustin and Edwin Egelsee provide sound legal advice, timely service and results for juveniles and families. We fulfill the needs of children and families throughout Southern California.
Special education law: Mediations, resolution sessions, due process hearings, appellate advocacy, IEP meetings, 504 meetings and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
General education law: Disciplinary issues such as expulsion, suspensions, lateral transfers, expulsion hearings and appeals