Abba-unless things are drastically different in NY nobody will give you private placement because of language. Not a special needs student, and certainly not a general ed student. Also, the lawyers for the school are paid by the school, the lawyers representing the child are either doing it pro bono, or they are getting paid by the parent. The parent pays them whether they win or lose, and the school gives nothing to anyone but their own team.
There is a lot of testing and documenting that gets done before a child is considered for private placement. If a child understands English, it will be discovered but even if he doesn’t it is not even on the bottom of the list of reasons to tuition out.