Stephen W. Dale is a disability rights advocate whose interest in the disability community began at an early age. He comes from a family of institutional workers that served in California’s State Hospitals and Developmental Centers for over three generations. He worked for seventeen years as a psychiatric technician in a variety of institutions in California and later became an intern at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) working on disability access cases, before starting his own practice focused on drafting and administering special needs trusts.

Mr. Dale is currently the principal attorney at the Dale Law Firm which is dedicated to providing quality estate planning to clients by working cooperatively with the clients’ tax, financial, and insurance professionals. He is also the trustee of the Golden State Pooled Trust which serves beneficiaries in California. Part of his duties is to oversee a series of MCLE programs accredited by the California State Bar, which provides education to attorneys and trustees on a wide variety of disability-related subjects focused on quality of life for persons with disabilities.

Mr. Dale serves on the boards of the Arc of California and the Contra Costa County Developmental Disabilities Counsel. He spends much of his time attending disability rights activities, including legislative hearings, and serving on boards and committees of disability-rights organizations. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of disability-related topics across the country. He speaks annually at the Stetson Law and the Center for Excellence Special Needs Conference, as well as the University of Texas annual Special Needs Conference. He is the recipient of the 2010 Theresa Foundation Award and the 2007 NAELA Powley Award. Additionally, Mr. Dale is a long-standing member of the Special Needs Alliance, a national, not-for-profit organization of attorneys dedicated to the practice of disability and public benefits law.