Conference Speakers

Judith Gran, Esquire

Judith A. Gran is partner in Reisman Carolla Gran & Zuba LLP. Before joining RCGZ, Judith practiced law at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia from 1984 to 2009, serving as Director of Disability Projects. She has conducted class action litigation to obtain community services for institutionalized persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Montana, California, Illinois and Tennessee. Her work as counsel for the Arc of Pennsylvania and the plaintiff class during the implementation phase of the consent decree in Halderman v. Pennhurst from 1986 through 1998 led to significant improvements in community service systems in Philadelphia and other counties. Judith represents special education students in administrative and judicial proceedings in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states, including the class action suit Gaskin v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a case brought to enforce the least restrictive environment mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Ronald Morton, Esquire

Ronald C. Morton, LL.M., CELA, is the founding member of the Morton Law Firm, PLLC. His statewide practice is focused on estate planning, asset protection planning, elder law, business planning, and Medicaid planning. Mr. Morton graduated cum laude from Mississippi College in 1988 with a double major in public administration and applied sociology. In 1992 he earned a Juris Doctorate degree, magna cum laude, from Mississippi College School of Law. He was awarded a Masters of Law in Taxation with Honors from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2007, and has earned the designation of Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Mr. Morton is a respected legal scholar and has written numerous articles for various legal publications. He was a co-author of Mississippi Rules Annotated (Supp. 1994), and author of Rules, Rulemaking, and the Ruled: The Mississippi Supreme Court as Self-proclaimed Ruler, a law review article on the inherent power of Mississippi courts to make procedural rules, which was published at 12 Miss. C.L. Rev. 293 in 1992.

Julian D. Miller, Esquire

Julian D. Miller is the newly appointed Senior Supervising Attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Jackson, Mississippi.  Julian has a diverse practice emphasis in areas of civil and appellate litigation with focuses on economic justice and children’s rights.  Julian has a special interest in education law and he has made a professional commitment to advancing the rights of children with disabilities. He has successfully represented clients in school disciplinary and special education matters around the state as part of the Mississippi Center for Justice’s Educational Opportunities Campaign, and he is the founding clinical director of the Education Law & Policy Clinic at Mississippi College School of Law, where he also teaches, adjunct.  He received his Juris Doctor degree (cum laude) from the University of Mississippi and he received his undergraduate degree in government from Harvard College. He served as a law clerk for Mississippi Court of Appeals Presiding Judge T. Kenneth Griffis, Jr. and was in private practice for 8 years prior to joining SPLC.

Jayne Buttross, Esquire

A retired attorney living in Jackson, Mississippi, much of Jayne’s personal and professional life has been spent in public service and advocacy. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi School of Law, Jayne followed a number of years in private legal practice with various posts throughout state government. She has served on numerous boards and commissions related to disability rights, to providing legal services to the underserved, and to environmental protection and policy. Jayne served on the board of the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities for 14 years, many of those years as board chair.

Pam Dollar, Education Advocate

  Pam is the executive director of the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities and she has been an advocate for people with disabilities for nearly 30 years. Motivated by her son’s autism diagnosis 29 years ago, Pam has developed a depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in state and federal laws and regulations related to general and special education and to other laws related to disability rights. Pam is a member of the Mississippi Special Education Advisory Panel, the Mississippi Autism Advisory Committee, and numerous other disability-related advisory boards and committees. Pam is a passionate advocate at both state and national levels for inclusion of people with disabilities in schools, communities and the workforce. Through her extensive advocacy, Pam has helped improve services for individuals with disabilities and has received numerous awards for her work. Pam earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in Accounting from the University of Southern Mississippi.  She resides in Magee, Mississippi with her husband and son.