Who We Are

Patrick Donohue, MBA, JD | Founder

In 2005, Mr Donohue was given the most devastating news any father could receive. His daughter Sarah Jane was diagnosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), which was the direct result of being violently shaken by her baby nurse when she was only five days old. This traumatic experience has given Mr Donohue great insight on the pains families face and the lack of resources that are available to those families with TBI or a Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (PABI). It has been through this hardship that Mr Donohue’s mission has been to advocate and advance the knowledge to not only improve his daughter’s life, but to the brain injured community, through research, education, and legal matters.

Mr. Donohue’s experience and expertise brings tremendous value in this effort, receiving his B.A. degree with a triple major in mathematics, philosophy, and political science from Rutgers College in 1992. He received his law degree in two and half years from Fordham Law School in 1997 and his M.B.A. in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business in 2000. He has been licensed to practice law in New York State since 1999.

Mr. Donohue officially founded Brain Injury Rights Group (BIRG) a national non-profit legal and civil rights organization for the brain injury community. BIRG offers pro-bono legal and advocacy services to the brain injury community. BIRG has already established itself with two landmark IDEA pendency cases in the Southern District of New York. In addition, BIRG has represented scores of families who have a student with a brain injury across New York State in all matters of Special Education Law including the development of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), attending IEP meetings, filing Due Process Complaints, negotiating settlements as well as litigating on their behalf in Impartial Hearings against school districts.

Mr. Donohue is also the Founder and Chairman of the International Institute for the Brain (iBRAIN) which is one of the largest special education programs in the United States focused on students with a brain injury or brain-based disorder. iBRAIN is located in a 26,000 square foot facility on the Upper East Side of New York City.

Prior to founding BIRG and iBRAIN, Mr. Donohue founded the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation (SJBF) which is an international non-profit named after his daughter. Since the foundation was launched in October 2007, it quickly grew into one of the largest organizations in the world dealing with the #1 leading cause of death and disability for American youth: brain injuries. Mr. Donohue has also previously founded another school for students with brain injuries in New York City.

Mr. Donohue has spoken at dozens of conferences around the world and media appearances as an expert in the field of brain injury. He has appeared twice on The TODAY Show and his work has been covered by The New York Times, USA Today, New York Law Journal, Los Angeles Times, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, Reader’s Digest and many other news outlets around the world.

Mr. Donohue lives in Manhattan with his wife, daughter, and step-daughter. He has served and supported various non-profit organizations in New York City throughout his professional career.

William Frazier, Esq. | Chief of Staff

Peter Albert, Esq. | Head of Special Education/Sr. Attorney

Karl Ashanti, Esq. | Head of Litigation/Sr. Attorney

William Frazier has served as the chief of Staff at the Brain Injury Rights Group since February 2018. He is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Yale University (BA) and Washington University School of Law (JD). Prior to his work at BIRG, Mr. Frazier worked for a variety of industries including technology, advertising/media, non-profits and financial services here in NYC, San Francisco, and Europe.

Karl Ashanti, Esq. | Head of Litigation/Sr. Attorney

Peter Albert, Esq. | Head of Special Education/Sr. Attorney

Karl Ashanti, Esq. | Head of Litigation/Sr. Attorney

Karl Ashanti is an attorney and native New Yorker of Jamaican descent. He was born in Manhattan, raised in Queens and has lived in Brooklyn and the Bronx for several years. He currently resides in Staten Island with his wife and two sons, ages seven and two. Mr. Ashanti is a graduate of Stanford University and the Georgetown University Law Center. Professionally, Mr. Ashanti has been practicing law for over twenty years and has handled litigation matters for that entire duration, having previously specialized in commercial litigation, premises liability, personal injury and civil rights defense. Currently, Mr. Ashanti is head of litigation at the Brain Injury Rights Group, Ltd., a boutique law firm specializing in advocating for the educational rights of disabled children.

Peter Albert, Esq. | Head of Special Education/Sr. Attorney

Peter G. Albert, Esq., is the Head of Special Education for BIRG. Peter is admitted to practice law in New York State as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Peter has more than 25 years’ experience in special education matters and has been involved in hundreds of administrative due process proceedings. Since 2003, Peter has been certified by the New York State Education Department as an Impartial Hearing Officer (“IHO”).

John Henry Olthoff, Esq. | Attorney

Peter Albert, Esq. | Head of Special Education/Sr. Attorney

John Henry Olthoff is a graduate of the Class of 2015 of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. After graduation, John Henry completed a fellowship with the first cohort of the Court Square Law Project, where he provided affordable legal representation to clients in the areas of housing, matrimonial, contracts, and special education law. Prior to joining Brain Injury Rights Group in 2019, John Henry worked for special education law firms, providing representation to clients on behalf of their children with special education needs. John Henry also holds a Master of Science in Education from CUNY Lehman College and has over fifteen years experience as a teacher of elementary, middle school, high school, and college students.

JuNnisha Carter | Sr. Paralegal

John Henry Olthoff, Esq. | Attorney

JuNnisha Carter | Sr. Paralegal

JuNnisha Carter, is the Senior Paralegal for the Brain Injury Rights Group. She is a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice and has her paralegal certification from Kingsborough Community College. She has been working in the area of special education for the past 12 years. She has a strong compassion of assisting and helping to obtain all the proper services and educational needs for all the students that we represent.

In her spare time she likes to read books, listen to music and prepare for her long term goal of becoming an attorney. So she can advocate more proficiently for all students.

Alicia Alba | Program Associate

John Henry Olthoff, Esq. | Attorney

JuNnisha Carter | Sr. Paralegal

Alicia Alba is a Program Associate at BIRG. As a parent who has had to navigate to obtain special education services for her eldest son, she understands how complicated the process can be. She is grateful to have the opportunity to use my advocacy and outreach skills to a meaningful cause to help families who have children with disabilities. Alicia lives in Washington Heights with her husband, son and daughter ages 16 and 11.