Christopher H. Knauf is the founder and senior attorney of Knauf Associates, a private disability rights and education law firm located in Santa Monica, Calif. In addition to serving as lecturer in law at USC Gould School of Law teaching Disability Rights Law, he is a certified mediator and former director of litigation for the Disability Rights Legal Center in Los Angeles.

Knauf has practiced more than 27 years, primarily focusing on disability rights and education-related legal issues, including special education litigation, in various state and federal trial and appellate courts. He was fortunate to win six cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal and has successfully litigated hundreds of cases, including various hearing and trial verdicts. In addition to litigation and mediation, Knauf also serves as an independent Section 504 hearing officer and Los Angeles County Bar fee arbitrator.

Prior to founding his law office in 2006, Knauf was an associate with the public agency law firm Lozano Smith for more than three years, focusing on special education and employment litigation on behalf of school and community college districts. Previously he served as a staff attorney with the Western Law Center for Disability Rights and Bet Tzedek Legal Services. Knauf has also served as an officer and board member of the Disability Community Resource Center (formerly Westside Center for Independent Living) for more than 10 years, and is a co-founder of the City of Santa Monica’s Disabilities Commission.