Ernie Trakas, Esq.

Ernie Trakas, Esq. is Senior Litigation Counsel with Child & Parental Rights Campaign, Inc. Ernie is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer, having advocated for parental and student rights at the federal district and appellate court level. He has worked in civil and disability rights and on Title IX Educational rights for parents and children. He brings to this role more than three decades of experience as a trial attorney, including as a public defender, as well as twenty years of experience representing K-12 public school districts and charter schools. Ernie received his law degree from the George Mason University in Virginia, and a bachelor of arts degree, from Wheeling College in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Ernie has concentrated his practice in the areas of education law and civil and disability rights, including Titles IV, V, VI, and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA). Ernie has litigated cases in the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, and Washington D.C. He has also argued appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth and District of Columbia Circuits.