Jamila C. Pollard, Esq. is the senior program manager/legal officer for the Dispute Resolution Unit in the Division for Special Education Services and Supports at the Georgia Department of Education. Since October 2013, Jamila has provided leadership in Georgia’s implementation of the IDEA dispute resolution processes of mediation, formal written complaints, and due process hearing requests. After joining CADRE’s intensive technical assistance workgroup on IEP Facilitation in June 2014, Jamila coordinated the development and current implementation of Georgia’s IEP Team meeting facilitation program. While at the Georgia Department of Education, she has presented at numerous conferences on special education-related topics including legal compliance and dispute resolution processes and practices. Jamila is also an active member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Young Lawyers Division, Advocates of Students with Disabilities Committee.
Prior to joining the Georgia Department of Education, Jamila was a staff attorney with the U.S Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, where she served as a screening and motions attorney. In her two-year term with the Court, Jamila researched and drafted legal memoranda to assist in the disposition of direct appeals from federal criminal convictions, federal and state prisoner civil rights and post-conviction relief appeals, federal appeals from federal civil judgments, and final decisions by federal agencies. She also orally presented research, analysis, and recommendations to active federal judges.
Before Jamila graduated from William and Mary Law School, she served for five years as a middle school mathematics and language arts teacher in a Georgia public school district. As an educator, Jamila was actively involved in the school and community, and proudly served as a Student Support Team Chairperson and a volleyball coach.