Today Larry Kotin, my law partner for the last 32 years, my colleague for more than 40 years in countless collaborations on behalf of children and adults with physical, cognitive or emotional/behavioral challenges, and above all my friend through many thicks and many thins in both our work and our personal lives, will move from his position as a partner at KC&S to “of counsel” status.  His ongoing role here, on a richly-deserved reduced schedule, will be primarily to advise and consult with attorneys in our special education and disability law group as we continue our work.  His many years of accumulated experience and his wisdom and judgment in the assessment of clients’ claims and in the strategic art of achieving their goals against formidable legal, bureaucratic and fiscal obstacles will continue to benefit our clients immeasurably.  While Larry will continue to be very much a part of our practice in his revised role, I want to take the opportunity with this shift to express my profound appreciation for all the mutual benefits of our association for these many years: we have taught and fought each other, united in our aims and in our passion for persons with disabilities, since we met behind the scenes to collaborate around legislative initiatives on Beacon Hill in 1971; as founding partners of KC&S we take tremendous pride in having built a legal culture that fosters cross-fertilization among disparate areas of legal expertise that benefit uniquely, we believe, by practicing together with our one-of-a-kind special education and disability law group.  What we enjoy today was first conceived in the vision of Larry Kotin: for that and for all the working and personal companionship he has given, I thank him and look forward to continuing the collaboration in his new status.

Robert Crabtree is a partner in the Special Education & Disability Rights practice group at Kotin, Crabtree & Strong, LLP in Boston, Massachusetts.