Disability Law

Lawyer Sentenced to Anger Course After Elevator Incident with Social Security Judge

A federal magistrate judge found an Oregon disability claims lawyer guilty of disorderly conduct and sentenced him to a year of probation and an anger management course after a three-year series of incidents between Daniel Bernath and a social security judge escalated into an elevator altercation at an administrative hearing…

Oct 14, 2010 4:38 PM CDT

EEOC Claims Obesity Is a Disability in Suit Filed for Fired Worker

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a suit on behalf of a woman who was fired, allegedly because of severe obesity. The fired employee, Lisa Harrison, had counseled children of mothers undergoing addiction treatment with the New Orleans office of Resources for Human Development, according to the Associated Press…

Oct 4, 2010 3:34 PM CDT

Federal Judge’s Standing Order Fines Firm $500/Day for Late Filing, Requires Explanation to Clients

A federal judge in Newark has lost patience with a New Jersey law firm’s “habitual” late filing of briefs in Social Security appellate matters. So she imposed a standing order at the beginning of the month requiring Langton & Alter to pay $500 a day for future late fillings, as…

Sep 24, 2010 8:16 PM CDT

Law Student Who Flunked Out of Florida Coastal Loses Disability Appeal

A former law student who sued Florida Coastal School of Law for failing to accommodate her depression and other disabilities has lost her federal appeal. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Judith Meisenhelder, who suffered from depression, migraine headaches…

Sep 15, 2010 1:00 PM CDT

Ex-MoFo Partner Arrested in Alleged Autism Fraud

A lawyer who until this year was a partner at Morrison & Foerster has been arrested on charges that he submitted almost $400,000 in fraudulent bills for the homeschooling of his autistic son. Intellectual property lawyer Jonathan Dickstein and his wife, marketing consultant Barclay Lynn, are free on bond, the…

Aug 26, 2010 11:33 AM CDT

Teen Claims School Violated ADA by Barring Basketball with Service Dog

A Chicago area teen claims in a lawsuit that her high school violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it barred her from playing basketball with the help of her service dog. Jenny Youngwith, 17, has a respiratory disorder and other disabilities, and her dog, Simba, totes two oxygen tanks…

Aug 19, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Disability Law Lags Behind Technology, White House Official Says

The Americans with Disabilities Act is 20 years old and needs to catch up with technology, a White House official says. Kareem Dale, a special assistant to President Obama on disability policy, tells the Washington Post that the law has produced a “sea change” benefiting disabled Americans. He points to…

Jul 27, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Lawyer’s Multiple Disability Claims Irk Targeted Businesses in Calif. City

A San Diego lawyer has irritated business owners in the town of Redlands, Calif., by sending out letters on behalf of clients demanding $6,500 settlements for claimed violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related state law. Attorney James Mason says he represents two disabled veterans who don’t live…

Jul 23, 2010 5:31 PM CDT

Slate: Victim Who Committed Suicide in High School Bullying Case Had History of Mental Issues

A basic principle law students are taught in first-year torts class is that defendants who happen to injure a fragile plaintiff can’t point to the victim’s weakness to excuse their own negligence. And the same principle applies in criminal cases, a prosecutor in a high-profile Massachusetts student-bullying case tells the…

Jul 22, 2010 10:17 PM CDT

Maternity Leaves are Derailing Otherwise A-OK Mortgage Applications

By law, at least as the real estate industry understands the rules, a mortgage lender can’t ask a woman if she’s pregnant. But it can inquire whether her income is about to change, and if that change is for a three-month maternity leave a growing number of lenders will refuse…

Jul 19, 2010 11:42 PM CDT

Suit Claims School District Violated ADA with Arrest of 8-Year-Old Girl

The parents of child with Asperger’s syndrome have filed suit against her northern Idaho school district and the sheriff’s department for the arrest of their daughter in the third grade. Spring Towry and Charles Towry claim a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act in their suit, filed in federal…

Jul 13, 2010 2:14 PM CDT

Solo Lawyer & Office Manager Wife Accused of Stealing $2M From Guardianship Clients

A 71-year-old solo practitioner in Texas and his 70-year-old office manager and wife are facing a 26-count federal indictment for allegedly stealing more than $2 million from the accounts of disabled military veterans for whom he served as a guardian. Joe Phillips, who practices in Houston, and his wife, Dorothy,…

Jun 30, 2010 9:00 PM CDT

4 Law Schools Named in Suit By Blind Advocacy Group Over LSAC’s Online Law School Applications

Four law schools have been added as defendants in a California lawsuit filed last year by a blind advocacy group against the Law School Admissions Council. The amended complaint filed last week contends that the University of California Hastings College of the Law, Chapman University School of Law, Thomas Jefferson…

Jun 15, 2010 12:51 PM CDT

Blind Law Grads Sue Over Denied Use of Screen-Access Software on Multistate Bar Exam

All through law school, three new graduates seeking to become members of the Maryland bar used specialized software to help them read text on their computer screens. But now they are being told that they can’t use the software when they take the Multistate Bar Examination in Maryland next month,…

Jun 3, 2010 1:06 AM CDT

Songwriter Nearly Depletes Savings Fighting to Regain Legal Control of His Life

A Nashville songwriter declared mentally disabled in October 2007 and committed to a psychiatric ward has regained legal control of his affairs after an expensive battle. Songwriter Danny Tate didn’t have a lawyer and he wasn’t in court when Judge Randy Kennedy first found him disabled because of his drug…

May 28, 2010 11:00 AM CDT