Eric R. Herlan

Eric R. Herlan is an attorney at Drummond Woodsum in Portland, Maine whose practice focuses on school and education law, disability law, and special education. He advises public school districts and educational institutions on special education and general school-law issues, including compliance and student matters. His practice areas include School & Education, Disability Law, and Special Education.

Herlan earned a J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law in 1987, a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1987, and a B.A. from the University of Maine in Orono in 1980. His combined legal and doctoral training supports a practice focused on education systems and disability-related legal requirements. This background supports Herlan’s legal analysis and problem solving in school, education, and disability law, including work that requires close attention to detailed facts, governing rules, and practical consequences.

Herlan’s experience includes more than 30 years of counseling public school districts on special education, student rights, disability obligations, and broader school-law questions. Herlan writes and teaches on education law, including authorship of Maine Special Education Law, and works with schools on compliance, dispute prevention, and difficult student-service issues. Through these matters, Herlan helps clients assess legal options, manage risk, and move through transactions, disputes, administrative processes, or litigation as the situation requires.

Eric R. Herlan has received sustained recognition in education law from professional legal publications. His long practice gives school clients a source of institutional knowledge on changing special education and disability requirements. In serving school districts and educational institutions, Herlan brings practical judgment and subject-matter knowledge to the issues presented. Herlan helps school districts understand legal duties, resolve disputes, and serve students within complex education-law frameworks with advice grounded in the specific facts and legal framework of each matter.

Law Office Affiliations

• Of Counsel, Drummond Woodsum
• Member, Maine State Bar Association
• Member, New Hampshire Bar Association
• Member, Maine Council of School Board Attorneys
• Member, National Council of School Board Attorneys
• Member, New Hampshire Council of School Attorneys
• Past Senior Warden, Trinity Episcopal Church, Portland, ME
• Past Senior Warden, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Ellsworth, ME

Licensed State

• Maine
• New Hampshire

Education

• University of Maine School of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• Columbia University
  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
• University of Maine at Orono
  Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Awards & Badges