[blindlaw] ADA Obligations of Law Firms for Disabled Clients

[Ford, Tim (DHS-OLS)]

The short blurb below seems related to the question posed recently on
this list about the possible obligations of a private law firm to
provide accessible materials for a blind client.  The blurb does not
have any links to the detailed information, but this is the way it came
to me.



 LAW OFFICE WILL PROVIDE SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS AS NEEDED

The law office of Cohen and Jaffe, LLC, in New York entered into a
settlement agreement with the Department of Justice on July 3, 2006,
resolving a complaint that the firm had failed to provide a qualified
sign language interpreter for a client who is deaf as she prepared for
deposition testimony and for other settlement and legal discussions. The
firm used the complainant's mother, who is not a qualified interpreter,
to interpret for her daughter, in violation of the requirements of the
ADA.

Under the terms of the agreement, the law firm agreed to provide
qualified sign language interpreters for clients who are deaf, to post a
notice in their offices prominently stating their responsibilities under
the ADA, to not pass along the costs of appropriate auxiliary aids and
services to clients with disabilities, and to compensate the complainant
$7,000.