Brian Jason Ford
Brian Jason Ford is the Director of the Pennsylvania Office for Dispute Resolution. Before joining ODR, Mr. Ford practiced special education law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, representing both families and educational agencies at various points in his career. In 2010, he left the private practice of law to become an ODR Hearing Officer. From 2010 through 2025, Mr. Ford served as an ODR Hearing Officer, presiding over roughly two thousand IDEA, Section 504, and gifted education due process hearings and writing hundreds of decisions. In January 2026, he became ODR’s Director upon the retirement of his predecessor, Kerry Voss Smith, Esquire.
Mr. Ford holds a B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in management from Franklin & Marshall College, a J.D. from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law, and a Certificate in Advocacy and Alternative Dispute Resolution, also from Penn State. He received a CALI Award for outstanding achievement in the study of mediation and is a Certified Hearing Officer through the National Association of Hearing Officials.