A dozen years into a special education teaching career in New York City public schools — a job she loved — Hope Kirsch attended her sister’s law school graduation and had a realization that would change her life: She, too, wanted to be an attorney.

“I’m watching my sister and all these women, and I turned to my mother, and this is the moment that changed my whole life, my whole trajectory,” said Kirsch, who taught in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.

She expected her mother — a retired New York City public school teacher who had inspired her to enter the profession — might urge caution. Instead, she offered encouragement: “You still can.”

Kirsch took that advice to heart. While continuing to work full time, she enrolled at Brooklyn Law School, attending classes at night. She earned her law degree in 1991 and, after retiring from teaching the following year, began a new career in civil and commercial litigation.

Her transition was not without challenges. She initially sought a legal position with the city Department of Education but was unsuccessful. In 1999, she and her husband moved to Arizona, where her sister had relocated.

It was there that Kirsch’s two professional worlds — education and law — began to intersect in a meaningful way.

When one of her sister’s twins was evaluated for special education services, Kirsch was able to step in, drawing on her teaching experience. At the suggestion of a law firm partner whose son had special needs, the sisters began to study education law in earnest.

In the years that followed, they built a practice representing families navigating the complexities of the education system, from pre-K through higher education. In 2006, they launched their own firm, initially handling both insurance cases and education litigation.

But it soon became clear where their focus belonged.

Kirsch recalled a moment that crystallized the decision. At a deposition over a construction defect, a woman began to cry about leaking windows.

That was the turning point.

“We need to get out of the insurance business,” Kirsch recalled, saying she recognized there were more important issues to litigate. “I’m not going to deal with people who cry because their windows are leaking.”

The sisters ultimately shifted their practice entirely to education law, where Kirsch said they found both purpose and demand. Today, about 80% of their work focuses on special education, with the remainder addressing general education issues such as discipline and sports eligibility.

“Parents need someone in their corner,” she said.

It is a specialized field, she noted, with a steep learning curve. Each year, she and her sister lead training sessions for the State Bar of Arizona and other groups, and Kirsch has presented at national forums, including the Council of Parent Advocates & Attorneys. She has also served as a judge pro tempore in Maricopa County.

Now 71, Kirsch says stepping away is not on her mind. “I love what I do, and I owe it all to my teaching background.”