Faust Honored for Lifetime Achievement in School Law
New Britain, PA - Andrew E. Faust, an attorney who recently retired from Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams LLP, has received the Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors Association (PSBSA) President's Award for Distinguished Career Achievement. The prestigious honor recognizes his decades of legal innovation, precedent-setting work and lasting contributions to public education law across the commonwealth.
Faust received the award during the Pennsylvania School Boards Association annual School Law Workshop in October. The award recognizes school law practitioners who have demonstrated exceptional achievement, perseverance and innovation throughout their careers.
A respected authority on special education law, Faust began practicing in the mid-1980s, when the legal landscape surrounding the education of students with disabilities was undergoing profound change. Over the next four decades, he helped school districts navigate evolving federal and state requirements while contributing to the development of legal principles and procedures that continue to guide education attorneys today.
When Faust entered the profession, special education litigation was relatively uncommon, and many of the legal remedies and procedural protections now considered fundamental had yet to be established. The passage of the federal Handicapped Children's Protection Act in 1986 helped usher in a new era of litigation, presenting attorneys and school districts with unprecedented legal challenges.
In accepting the award, Faust reflected on his experience practicing during this transformative period. "There was no compensatory education.” Faust recalled. “There was no tuition reimbursement. There were no settlement agreements. There was nothing that we today accept as the fabric of special education law. It all needed to be invented."
Throughout his career, Faust played a role in establishing that legal framework, representing school districts in complex special education matters, helping establish important legal precedents and advising educators and fellow attorneys on the interpretation and application of education law.
Former Sweet Stevens Managing Partner Ellis H. Katz, who worked alongside Faust for decades, praised both his legal accomplishments and his generosity toward colleagues.
"As someone who practiced law with Andy for over 35 years, I witnessed the enormous impact he had on special education law in Pennsylvania and beyond," Katz said. "Many of his cases established important legal precedents that are to this day relied upon by those who practice in this area of the law. I also saw firsthand the phone calls and emails that would come into the office from lawyers across the state seeking his advice. He always made time for them. He is an extraordinary lawyer who made a real difference."
At the event, Faust’s award acceptance remarks reflected a continued commitment to the profession and the next generation of education attorneys. Drawing parallels between the legal uncertainty he encountered early in his career and the challenges facing attorneys today, Faust emphasized the importance of providing school districts with sound legal guidance amid changing laws, regulations and government policies.
"We, as lawyers, must stand as the bastion of law," he said. "We must help our clients find meaning and give them definitive guidance."
The PSBSA was established in 1963 to strengthen legal services for Pennsylvania school boards and promote the exchange of knowledge among school attorneys.
Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams, LLP was formed in 1995 by nine experienced education lawyers who created the first private law practice in Pennsylvania dedicated entirely to Education Law. Since then, the firm has grown to 25 attorneys who represent over 290 school and municipal entities as Solicitors or as Special Counsel in more than 50 counties throughout Pennsylvania, and in additional practice areas, such as Construction Law, Tax Assessment Appeals, Audit of Operations and Practices, Real Estate Law and Oil, Gas and Mineral Law.