Disability Law

Are law firms committed to disability diversity? A handful of firms have taken action

Statistics show that the legal profession either isn’t doing its fair share to recruit, retain and advance attorneys with disabilities, or it has failed to be inclusive enough for disabled lawyers to feel comfortable disclosing their impairments.

Oct 24, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

Disabled people under guardianship often lose voting rights

Many people undergoing the guardianship or conservatorship process to help loved ones with their health care, financial or other decision-making. Often they are unaware that voting rights may be at stake when they go before a judge.

Oct 1, 2018 2:05 AM CDT

House of Delegates urges end to mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims

After a year in which sexual harassment in the workplace has taken center stage, the ABA House of Delegates voted to urge legal employers not to require mandatory arbitration of such claims.

Oct 1, 2018 12:50 AM CDT

ABA-supported Marrakesh Treaty expands access to print materials for blind people

Signatories to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works to Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled agree to adapt their domestic copyright laws to allow written works to be converted into accessible formats such as braille, large print or digital for personal use and noncommercial distribution. A total of 40 countries are party to the treaty, which also requires that the countries allow eligible people and libraries to export and import works between those countries.

Sep 1, 2018 1:20 AM CDT

Law grad with sleep apnea isn’t entitled to accommodation in bar admission process, court says

The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld a decision to deny bar admission to a Florida Coastal law grad who contended his sleep apnea should have been accommodated as a disability during the application process.

Aug 29, 2018 6:05 AM CDT

Administrative law judge kills himself after hostage standoff, police say

An administrative law judge who reviewed Social Security disability cases shot and killed himself Friday morning after a 10-hour standoff with police in South Florida. The judge, Timothy Maher, did not harm his three hostages before killing himself, police told the Miami Herald. Though the hostages weren’t identified, a police…

Aug 24, 2018 4:34 PM CDT

House resolutions decry over-discipline in schools, urge tech access for those with disabilities

Technological access for those with disabilities and curbing the school-to-prison pipeline were the focus of two resolutions brought by the Commission on Disability Rights before the ABA House of Delegates on Tuesday. Both were passed with overwhelming support.

Aug 7, 2018 1:26 PM CDT

Ex-partner who blamed ‘drunken stupor’ for attempted deposit of firm funds reportedly seeks $5M

A former partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker says the law firm failed to support him when he needed treatment for alcohol abuse, and fired him when he tried to deposit firm funds into his personal account while in a “drunken stupor.”

Jul 12, 2018 7:05 AM CDT

Trump tosses hiring process for administrative law judges, gives agency chiefs selection power

Updated: President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order eliminating the exam and competitive hiring process for administrative law judges.

Jul 11, 2018 10:58 AM CDT

ADA lawsuit about Florida bar examiners’ mental health requirements allowed to proceed

A federal judge in Florida has allowed a suit by a law student to go forward against the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, alleging that the board violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by requiring candidates with mental health conditions to undergo and pay for invasive procedures.

Jul 9, 2018 2:49 PM CDT

Set your own expectations, says Andrés Gallegos (podcast)

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career? It’s a question that ABA Journal podcast host Stephanie Francis Ward loves to ask, one that can prompt incredible stories. It’s the question that inspired her to create a special series of her Asked and Answered podcast, titled Asked and Answered: Lived and Learned. In this episode, Ward speaks with Andrés Gallegos.

Jul 3, 2018 7:15 AM CDT

Angry parents find little legal recourse when schools put their kids in ‘seclusion rooms’

It’s not a timeout: State laws, school policies and individualized education programs often allow involuntary confinement as a way to calm highly emotional students. Disabled and minority students are disproportionately affected by seclusion policies, which can include isolation and physical restraints.

Jul 1, 2018 1:45 AM CDT

Captured ex-lawyer who pleaded guilty in $550M disability fraud scheme gets plea deal

A onetime lawyer on the lam reportedly has been offered a plea deal that would give him 27 years in prison for fleeing the country and participating in a disability bribery scheme.

May 31, 2018 12:58 PM CDT

7th Circuit blocks disability abortion ban; partial dissent labels the procedure a ‘super-right’

A federal appeals court has upheld a permanent injunction blocking an Indiana law that banned abortions based on race, sex, ancestry, Down syndrome or other genetic disorders. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, report the Indianapolis Star, the Indiana Lawyer and Reuters. How Appealing links to…

Apr 20, 2018 3:34 PM CDT

Suit blames broker’s suicide on forced retirement that worsened his depression

A wrongful death suit claims JPMorgan Chase & Co. was liable for the suicide of a broker whose depression worsened after the bank forced him to retire. The suit was filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan by the estate of Michael Lorig, report the New York Law Journal, Fortune…

Apr 5, 2018 1:24 PM CDT