About Nancy Potter
Nancy Potter is an education attorney whose practice focuses on Title IX, student discipline, academic integrity, disability accommodations, and Section 504 disability discrimination.
She represents students and families in school and university matters and serves schools and institutions as an independent hearing officer, appointed advisor, investigator, and trainer.
Credentials
Former Supervisory Attorney, US Dept of Education, Office for Civil Rights
Former Staff Attorney, Education Law Center
Independent Hearing Officer and Appointed Advisor, K-12 and Higher Education
Title IX, Title VI, Section 504, and Student Conduct Practice
Professional Background
Before founding Potter Law, Nancy served as a Supervisory Attorney and Team Leader at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in the Philadelphia Regional Office. In that role, she led a team investigating complaints against schools, colleges, and universities under Title IX, Title VI, Section 504, and related federal civil rights laws.
Before joining OCR, Nancy was a staff attorney at the Education Law Center, where she worked on policy reform and student rights issues at the federal, state, and local level.
Nancy also served as a staff attorney at KidsVoice, a nonprofit legal agency representing abused, neglected, and at-risk youth. She later founded and led the Pittsburgh office of McAndrews Law Offices, handling complex education civil rights disputes.
Current Practice
Nancy’s practice includes both student-side and institutional education law work.
For students and families, she handles Title IX investigations and hearings, student conduct and disciplinary matters, academic integrity cases, disability accommodation disputes, Section 504 disability discrimination matters, appeals, and university complaints.
For schools and institutions, she serves as an independent hearing officer, appointed advisor, and investigator in student discipline, Title IX, and Section 504 matters. She also provides training and professional education for institutional staff, student organizations, attorneys, and professional audiences.
Her work on both sides of these processes gives her a practical understanding of how they operate in real settings. Students and families benefit from counsel grounded in the way institutions actually handle complaints, hearings, and appeals. Schools and institutions benefit from an advisor and decision-maker who understands both compliance requirements and the student experience.
I also write a newsletter about how college systems work
Selected Media, Publications, and Commentary
The New York Times, Trump Administration Pulls Out of Civil Rights Settlements Backing Trans Students
K-12 Dive, Trump’s OCR resolved no K-12 sexual harassment, assault complaints in 2025, data shows
K-12 Dive, ‘Death by 1,000 cuts’: Districts, states challenge Education Department civil rights enforcement
PaTIXPros, Closing the Gap: Strengthening Title IX Enforcement in College Athletics
Chalkbeat, Study investigates high discipline rates among black girls
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, We must address disparities in school discipline and decrease suspensions
Education and Admission
J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law
B.S., Oklahoma State University
Judicial clerkship, Honorable Oliver J. Lobaugh
Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania
Get in Touch
Schools and institutions can contact the office about hearing officer, appointed advisor, investigations, or training services.
Students and families can schedule a consultation to discuss a specific matter.