Robert Garda, Jr.
Eleanor Legier Sarpy Distinguished Professor of Law
Education
J.D., Duke University School of Law, 1994
B.A., Duke University, 1990
Departments
- College of Law
- Law
Expertise
- Contracts
- Education Law
Bio
Professor Garda teaches Contracts, Commercial Transactions, International Commercial Transactions, First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment and Education Law. He is the author of numerous articles and reports on education law. His recent articles appear in the North Carolina Law Review, Florida Law Review and Journal of Law & Education. His legal scholarship covers a variety of topics including: the rights of students with disabilities, affirmative action, and legal issues surrounding charter schools. His current projects concern the rights of students with disabilities to exercise public and private school choice and the impact of the Supreme Court's recent jurisprudence on the religion clauses on schools.
Professor Garda was the past national Chair of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Education Law. He also served as a member of the Louisiana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He is the current Chair of the Board of Directors for the Louisiana Mental Health Advocacy Services and serves on several non-profit boards related to special education teachers and service provision. He has worked on projects with the Louisiana Bar Foundation and Louisiana Appleseed. He also works with national and local public interest groups on education and disability issues and is a frequent commentator in the Louisiana media on education issues. He was awarded the 2010 Good Apple Award from the Appleseed Network and the 2009 Gillis Long Poverty Law Center Public Service Award for his public service. He was also voted the Favorite Professor of the Year in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.
Professor Garda joined the Loyola Law School faculty in 2002. Prior to entering academia he graduated from Duke University Law School where he served as Articles Editor on the Duke Law Journal. After externing for Justice Zimmerman of the Utah Supreme Court, Professor Garda became a partner at the Salt Lake City firm of Fabian & Clendenin focusing primarily in the areas of education law, commercial litigation, and employment law.
Classes Taught
- Contracts I
- Contracts II
- First Amendment
- Fourteenth Amendment
- Law Review Practicum
- Employment Discrimination
- Commercial Transactions
- International Commercial Transactions
- Legal Profession
- Education Law Seminar
- Legal Methods
- Seminar on Scholarly Writing
Areas of Expertise
Contracts, First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment and Education law, with an emphasis on legal issues relating to educating students with disabilities.
Publications
Students for Fair Admissions Through the Lens of Interest Convergence Theory: Reality, Perception and Fear, 77 SMU L.R. 93 (Winter 2024)
The Impact of Admission Policies on Racial and Socioeconomic Diversity in New Orleans’ Selective Admission Schools, 49 Fordham Urb. L.J. 1139 (2022)
Charter Schools and Special Education: Ensuring Legal Compliance Through Capacity Building, 50 U. Mem. L.R. 947 (Summer 2020)
The Mississippi Charter School Act: Will it Produce Effective and Equitable Charter Schools, 36:2 Miss. L.J 265 (2018)
Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools: Finding a Middle Ground, 46 J. Law & Educ. 459 (Fall 2017)
A Fresh Look at IDEA Eligibility Criteria, American Association of School Administrators (April 2016)
Searching for Equity Amid a System of Schools: The View from New Orleans, 42 Fordham Urb. L.J. 613 (2015)
The Legal Impact of Emerging Governance Models on Public Education and Its Office Holders, 45 The Urban Lawyer 21 (co-authored with David Doty) (Winter 2013)
Disabled Students’ Rights of Access to Charter Schools under the IDEA, Section 504 and the ADA, 32 Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary 516 (2012)
Culture Clash: Special Education in Charter Schools, 90 North Carolina Law Review 655 (March 2012)
The White Interest in School Integration, 63 Florida Law Review 605 (Spring 2011)
Portions reprinted in Derek Black, Education Law: Equality, Fairness and Reform (Wolters Kluwer 2013)
The Politics of Education Reform: Lessons Learned from New Orleans, 40 Journal of Law & Education 57 (Spring 2011) (peer-reviewed)
Introduction to Symposium on Reconstructing Education in New Orleans Post-Katrina, 11 Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law 159 (Spring 2010)
Equitable and Adequate Funding for Special Needs Children in Louisiana, Louisiana Appleseed Foundation (2010)
Coming Full Circle: The Journey From Separate But Equal to Separate and Unequal Schools, 2 Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy 1 (2007)
Who is Eligible Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act?, 35 Journal of Law & Education 291 (Summer 2006) (peer-reviewed)
The New IDEA: Shifting Educational Paradigms to Achieve Racial Equality in Special Education, 56 Alabama Law Review 1071 (2005)
Portions reprinted in Maurice Dyson, Our Promise: Achieving Educational Equity For America's Children (Carolina Academic Press 2009)
Untangling Eligibility Requirements Under the Individuals With Disabilities in Education Act, 69 Missouri Law Review 441 (Spring 2004)
BOOK CHAPTERS
“Charter Schools and Students with Disabilities” in The Principal’s Legal Handbook (7th Ed. Eds. Umpstead et.al., Education Law Association) (2024)
“The Legal Foundation for Special Education” in Special Education for All Teachers 17 (8th ed. Kendall Hunt Publishing 2023) (co-authored with Makala Graves)
“Students with Disabilities and School Choice” in The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Education Law (Oxford University Press 2021) (co-authored with Wendy Hensel and Paul O’Neil)
“Students with Disabilities” in Derek Black, Education Law: Equality, Fairness and Reform (3rd ed. Wolters Kluwer 2021)
“Race and Disability” in Our Promise: Achieving Educational Equity for America's Children (2009)