About Margaret Dalton

Dean Dalton assumed the position of Associate Dean in 2016, and became Vice Dean in 2019. Previously, Dean Dalton was the faculty director for Clinical and Placement Education, which includes clinical education and field placements. During her 12 years as Director of the Legal Clinics, she doubled the number of clinics, including establishing partnerships with the California Board of Equalization and the Legal Aid Employment Law Center. She was the supervising attorney for the Education & Disability Clinic, which she created in 2003 with a discretionary award from The California Endowment. Dean Dalton teaches family law, special education law, and skills courses.

Dean Dalton’s service to the profession and community includes four years on the Special Education Advisory Committee for the California Office of Administrative Hearings (2011-2013 and 2017 – present), three years on the State Bar Trust Fund Program’s IOLTA Restructuring Committee (2013-2016), and five years on the Clinical and Education Committee for the San Diego Center for Children (2015-present).

Her work has been recognized with the Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence in Legal Education by the San Diego Law Library Foundation in 2018, as a Top Attorney by the San Diego Daily Transcript in 2015, with the STAR Award from the COMPASS Family Center in 2010, and as the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program in 2007, among other honors.

Dean Dalton’s most recent publications include a book chapter, “Procedural Safeguards and Remedies,” in Special Education Law and Policy: From Foundation to Application (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Plural Publishing, forthcoming November 2020) and  “Forgotten Children: Rethinking the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Provisions” appeared in American University’s Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law in April 2019. She has been quoted by NPR, U.S. News & World Report, ABC 10 News, Los Angeles Daily Journal, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Daily Transcript and numerous other media.