Disability Law

Sonnenschein Pro Bono Case Produces Options for Developmentally Disabled

A consent decree obtained with the help of pro bono counsel Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal will give Illinois residents with developmental disabilities the option of moving from large facilities to community-based settings. The suit had contended unnecessary institutionalization violates the Americans With Disabilities Act. The consent decree gave the class…

Nov 19, 2008 8:12 PM CST

UK Lawyer Made $25M in a Year, Now He Is Focus of Legal-Fees Controversy

Representing injured coal miners has proven to be a lucrative practice area for Jim Beresford, 58, and his three-partner law firm. At one point, the head office of the United Kingdom law firm now known as Beresfords Solicitors was shabby building near a Chinese takeout restaurant in Doncaster, in South…

Nov 14, 2008 12:31 AM CST

Bill Expanding Protection for Disabled Gets Final Congressional OK

A bill expanding protections for workers with disabilities has gotten final approval of Congress. The White House said President Bush would sign the measure, the New York Times reports. The legislation is intended to override court decisions that denied workplace protection for people whose disabilities could be controlled by medication…

Sep 18, 2008 1:27 PM CDT

Ethics Complaint Says Lawyer Used ADA Suits to Extort Settlements

A California lawyer who has filed hundreds of disability lawsuits against businesses has been accused in an ethics complaint of extorting quick cash settlements and making up injuries. The state bar complaint against Bay-area lawyer Thomas Frankovich said he filed more than 200 lawsuits against businesses in 2004 alone that…

Sep 12, 2008 12:14 PM CDT

Senate Passes Bill to Expand Workplace Protections for Disabled

The Senate passed a bill yesterday to expand workplace protections for people with disabilities. The legislation is similar to a bill passed in June by the House, Reuters reports. Minor differences between the two bills are expected to be ironed out quickly so a final version can be sent to…

Sep 12, 2008 11:22 AM CDT

Target Agrees to Pay $6M, Make Website Accessible to Blind

Target Corp. has agreed to pay $6 million and make its website accessible to the blind in a class action settlement. The suit had claimed Target’s website was improperly coded, making it impossible for blind people to use software that coverts text into Braille, the Recorder reports. Laurence Paradis, a…

Aug 28, 2008 1:15 PM CDT

Proposed New ADA Regs Concern Both Sides

Proposed revisions to the regulations implementing the Americans With Disabilities Act were published in the Federal Register last month by the Department of Justice, giving both the businesses required to comply with the standards and advocates for those protected by them cause for concern. Business owners—especially small-business owners—are worried about…

Jul 25, 2008 9:37 PM CDT

Wal-Mart to Pay $250K Settlement for Firing Worker Disabled in Shooting

Wal-Mart will pay $250,000 to settle a claim that it violated federal disability law when it fired a pharmacy technician who was injured in a shooting. The employee, Glenda Allen, was working at Wal-Mart in Maryland in 1994 when she was shot in a robbery attempt at a different job,…

Jun 10, 2008 4:51 PM CDT

ADA Protection for Relatives of Disabled Tested in Two Cases

Two cases in which companies fired employees whose relatives were incurring large health care costs could pave the way for more lawsuits under a little-known provision of the Americans With Disabilities Act. The provision protects relatives and caregivers of disabled people from job discrimination, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub.…

Jun 4, 2008 12:43 PM CDT

Blind Lawyer to Sue AmEx Over Unreadable Credit Card Statements?

A blind lawyer in the U.K. is threatening to sue American Express Co. if the credit card issuer doesn’t take action to make its online credit card statements more user-friendly to those with vision problems. Previously, Richard Godfrey-McKay, a 53-year-old solicitor in Perth, could review his Internet statements with the…

May 28, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

Former Child Actor, Now Blind, Will Begin Stint as O’Connor Law Clerk

A former child actor who played the nerdy Weasel on the TV show Saved By the Bell: The New Class will become a U.S. Supreme Court clerk this July for retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Actor-turned-lawyer Isaac Lidsky will be the first blind clerk at the Supreme Court, Legal Times…

May 27, 2008 2:35 PM CDT

Judging the Judges

New procedural rules for judicial misconduct cases will apply in all federal circuits

May 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Meet Gordon Erspamer, VA’s ‘Worst Nightmare’ in PTSD Benefits Case

A busy BigLaw rainmaker who has for nearly 30 years made time to promote the rights of armed services veterans “is a big, unresponsive government agency’s worst nightmare,” a California newspaper says. Gordon Erspamer, a Morrison & Foerster partner who went to trial this week in a federal class action…

Apr 24, 2008 5:43 PM CDT

Busted: Fla. Shoppers Admit Handicap Parking Abuse

Seeing a seemingly able-bodied individual stride away from a car parked in a prime handicapped space, many an observer has wondered if that person really has a hidden handicap. But now we know: A newspaper investigative team in Miami has confirmed that, at least on one isolated day, in one…

Apr 10, 2008 11:18 PM CDT

Bullied at School for Years, Billy Wolfe Brings Suit, With His Parents’ Help

How is it that a student can be bullied at school, for years, without officials taking effective action to end the situation? A lengthy article in today’s New York Times attempts to answer that question, by telling the story of Billy Wolfe, from his own and his parents’ viewpoint. Now…

Mar 24, 2008 11:58 PM CDT