Disability Law

Judge tosses contract between death row exoneree and his lawyer

A federal judge voided a contract between a North Carolina death row exoneree and his lawyer last week, an unusual move in a high-profile case that has highlighted the emotional and financial vulnerability of people who go free after being wrongly convicted. Henry McCollum, who is mentally disabled, and his…

Oct 30, 2017 4:00 PM CDT

Movie patron who can’t see or hear wins appellate ruling in bid for tactile interpreter

A federal appeals court is giving a deaf and blind man a chance to argue he was entitled to a tactile interpreter at a Cinemark theater.

Oct 11, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Lainey Feingold: Negotiating better access for the disabled

Lainey Feingold

Sep 20, 2017 8:30 AM CDT

Haben Girma: Leading the way for people with disabilities

Haben Girma

Sep 5, 2017 8:30 AM CDT

Former Social Security judge, 81, gets prison time, must repay more than $94M

A former administrative law judge who took payments in more than 3,100 disability cases involving a now-fugitive lawyer was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to repay more than $94 million on Friday. David Black Daugherty, 81, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had admitted taking more than $609,000…

Aug 28, 2017 3:26 PM CDT

Fugitive lawyer is sentenced in $550M disability scheme; he is spotted in New Mexico

A lawyer who fled after pleading guilty in a $550 million disability fraud scheme has been sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison, the maximum. The lawyer, Eric Conn, was recently spotted on surveillance cameras at a gas station and Walmart in New Mexico, report the Lexington Herald-Leader, the…

Jul 18, 2017 12:18 PM CDT

Lawyer who filed hundreds of ADA suits barred from practice in Texas federal court for three years

A lawyer in Austin, Texas, has been suspended from practice in a federal court for three years based on a finding he “unquestionably acted in bad faith” in six cases.

Jul 13, 2017 8:52 AM CDT

Serial ADA suits operated like ‘a carnival shell game,’ depriving plaintiff of proceeds, judge says

Ninety-nine lawsuits claiming New Mexico businesses violated the Americans with Disabilities Act should be tossed, according to a recommendation by a federal magistrate judge. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen said the “boilerplate complaints” were primarily filed for an improper purpose and they should be tossed under standards for in…

Jul 13, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

14th Amendment should be used to ensure equal protection for those with disabilities

Any American, at any stage of life, could join the nearly one-in-five of our citizens who has a disability. If people with disabilities were a formally recognized minority group, they would constitute the largest minority population in the United States. But they are not, and that presents some difficult legal…

Jun 27, 2017 8:43 AM CDT

Scam targets clients of fugitive lawyer awaiting sentencing in $550M disability fraud scheme

Former clients of fugitive Kentucky lawyer Eric Conn are being targeted in a scam. The former clients are being told they are entitled to $9,000 from a special “Eric Conn compensation fund,” but they have to send $200 to receive the money, report television stations LEX18, and WKYT in Kentucky,…

Jun 19, 2017 8:19 AM CDT

86 percent of low-income Americans’ civil legal issues get inadequate or no legal help, study says

A new report reveals the extent of the “justice gap” experienced by low-income Americans. The report (PDF), released on Wednesday, found that 86 percent of civil legal problems reported by low-income Americans in the past year were not addressed with adequate or professional legal help. The report, “The Justice Gap:…

Jun 14, 2017 12:44 PM CDT

Person claiming to be aggrieved fugitive lawyer Eric Conn emails terms of his surrender

A person claiming to be the lawyer who fled on June 2 before his sentencing in a $550 million disability fraud scheme is dictating the terms of his surrender in an email that rails about inequitable sentencing. The email purporting to be from Kentucky lawyer Eric Conn was likely written…

Jun 12, 2017 12:02 PM CDT

Lawyer disappears while awaiting sentencing in $550M disability fraud scheme

Updated: A lawyer who pleaded guilty on March 24 in a $550 million disability fraud scheme has disappeared after removing his ankle bracelet, according to the FBI. An arrest warrant has been issued for Eric C. Conn of Pikeville, Kentucky, report the Washington Post, the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Louisville…

Jun 5, 2017 12:38 PM CDT

Workers with gender dysphoria are entitled to protection under the ADA, federal judge rules

A federal judge in Allentown, Pennsylvania, has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a transgender woman who claims discrimination by her former employer, Cabela’s Retail Inc., under the Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. District Judge Joseph Leeson ruled (PDF) that the ADA protects people with gender dysphoria from discrimination,…

May 19, 2017 11:35 AM CDT

After losing LSAT lawsuit against the ABA, legally blind man sues LSAC

A legally blind Michigan man who wants to attend law school has filed another federal lawsuit alleging the Law School Admissions Test is discriminatory under the Americans with Disabilities Act, MLive reports. In March the U.S. Supreme Court denied cert in a lawsuit Angelo Binno filed against the American Bar…

May 18, 2017 2:00 PM CDT