[Jobs] Fw: SILENT NO LONGER ABA Conference Gives Lawyers With Disabilities

[PETER ALTSCHUL]

> 
>>SILENT NO LONGER
>>ABA Conference Gives Lawyers With Disabilities a Forum to Call for
>>Responsive Hiring Policies
>>
>>BY TERRY CARTER
>>
>>The first-of-its-kind National Conference on Employment of Lawyers 
>>with Disabilities this week brought together 165 professionals for a 
>>mix of panel discussions, extensive networking and some preaching to 
>>the choir. The ABA sponsored the conference, held in Washington, 
>>D.C., on Monday and Tuesday, with the U.S. Equal Employment 
>>Opportunity Commission as a major co-sponsor. Attendees included 
>>lawyers, academics, judges, and representatives from government 
>>agencies and public interest groups.
>>
>>EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez released a 22-page commission fact 
>>sheet on reasonable accommodations for attorneys with disabilities.
>>
>>The publication addresses rights and responsibilities of both legal
>>employers and disabled lawyers, with details and real-life examples of
>>accommodation
>>issues.
>>
>>"We hope this fact sheet will jump-start decisions on the hiring of
>>lawyers with disabilities in law firms large and small," ABA President
>>Michael S. Greco
>>of Boston told the group.
>>
>>In an irony that was lost on no one, it turned out that the conference
>>venue, the Renaissance Hotel, did not have proper wheelchair access for
>>the ballroom
>>slated for the meetings. Quick arrangements were made for an accessible
>>area, albeit a long and narrow room with low ceilings and suspended
>>water pipes
>>on a lower floor off the parking garage.
>>
>>"We're more used to things like this than most lawyers," quipped one
>>disabled lawyer at the conference. "No problem."
>>
>>Several speakers mentioned the snafu.
>>
>>"I think it's symbolic that we ended up at the P-1 level because we're
>>only going to move up," the EEOC's Dominguez said at the outset of her
>>talk.
>>
>>Substantive discussions focused on how disability does or does not fit
>>with existing concepts of diversity, how and why hiring disabled lawyers
>>makes good
>>business sense, and best practices for law firms hiring disabled
>>lawyers.
>>
>>At the outset of the conference, Scott C. LaBarre, a Denver litigator
>>who chairs the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law,
>>explained how
>>much things have changed in the past 10 years for him.
>>
>>LaBarre explained that he was active in the Young Lawyers Division and
>>went to his first YLD conference in 1996. When he entered the conference
>>room, someone
>>took him by the arm, said he was at the wrong meeting and began
>>escorting him out. LaBarre, who is blind, explained that he was a lawyer
>>and member of
>>the bar group.
>>
>>His escort responded: "You're a lawyer! Oh, really. How did you do
>>that?"
>>
>>Making reasonable accommodations for disabled lawyers can give law firms
>>insight into the workplace that also would help make things better for
>>all who
>>work there, said panelist Samuel R. Bagenstos, a professor at Washington
>>University School of Law in St. Louis who teaches clinical disability
>>law.
>>
>>For example, Bagenstos said, offering flexible hours to a lawyer who
>>might need time off to take medication or visit a physician helps
>>supervisors understand
>>that those without disabilities need the same flexibility.
>>
>>Another panelist, Judge Richard S. Brown of the Wisconsin Court of
>>Appeals, pointed out that those who got through law school and other
>>challenges in life
>>with disabilities should be seen as that much better at handling
>>adversity and dealing professionally with problems of others.
>>
>>"They must possess abilities to advocate and negotiate," said Brown, who
>>is hearing impaired. He added that, when he was a litigator, he would
>>tell juries
>>about his difficulty at the outset, "and they'd pay more attention to me
>>than to my opponent."
>>
>>Accommodating disabled lawyers is mostly a matter of education and
>>understanding for their employers and colleagues, according to the EEOC
>>fact sheet. The
>>publication points out that accommodations are not always needed and,
>>when they are, not usually very expensive.
>>
>>The publication lists a number of examples. They include ramps and
>>doorways to accommodate wheelchairs, part-time employment, unpaid leave
>>when other leave
>>is exhausted, special equipment such as TTY devices for telephone-line
>>communications for the deaf (much like instant-messaging on the
>>Internet), and voice
>>recognition software for those unable to use a personal computer
>>keyboard.
>>
>>Much of the discrimination against disabled lawyers stems from ignorance
>>on the part of employers and colleagues, not innate hostility, said
>>Judge David
>>S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
>>Circuit. Speaking at the conference luncheon, Tatel, who lost his
>>eyesight at age 32,
>>when he already was practicing law, said gradual changes made him
>>accepted by colleagues.
>>
>>For example, when some of them gathered in a meeting room to go over
>>documents, the others would begin reading them silently. Eventually,
>>Tatel would loudly
>>clear his throat. They got the point and began reading aloud.
>>
>>"It was the institution responding to the needs of one of its members,"
>>Tatel said.
>>
>>The same thing occurred later with his colleagues on the court, and now,
>>he said, even when three-judge panels that do not include him meet, they
>>read aloud
>>to each other.
>>
>>"The hiring people in law firms just don't have the experience they need
>>to be able to think about this issue intelligently," Tatel said.
>>
>>Richard L. Thornburgh, the former U.S. attorney general who advocated
>>for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, told the gathering
>>during his keynote
>>address that, while employment was one of the law's goals, the result
>>has been "mixed at best."
>>
>>Thornburgh said legal employers must do more to integrate disability
>>into their diversity initiatives, including developing policies to make
>>the workplace
>>more welcoming to the disabled.
>>
>>And that welcome would include accepting the differences in how some
>>disabled people look and communicate. One speaker emphasized the need
>>for disabled
>>lawyers to make their presence known and to network with others
>>similarly situated to join their voices.
>>
>>"We need to integrate the workplace to the point that disability just
>>happens to be part of who we are," said Olegario D. Cantos VII, who is
>>blind. He is
>>the associate director on disabilities with the domestic policy council
>>in the White House.
>>
>>Cantos urged other disabled lawyers to be active in the organized bar in
>>whatever substantive areas they feel passionate about, not just
>>disability issues.
>>
>>EEOC commissioner Christine Griffin, who uses a wheelchair, offered a
>>concise message for legal employers: "Just hire us. Just hire us. Stop
>>ruminating
>>about all the problems. You already did that with women and minorities.
>>You'll be rewarded in the end."
>>Definition list of 1 items
>>C2006 ABA Journal
>>list end
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>__________ NOD32 1.1352 (20060104) Information __________
>>
>>This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
>><http://www.eset.com>http://www.eset.com
>