Opportunities for disabled attorneys are increasing both through advances in technology and changing attitudes toward the rights and abilities of those with handicaps. In this special report, The National Law Journal profiles disabled attorneys forging successful careers at large law firms, on the bench, as solo practitioners and at one of the nation’s most prestigious law schools.
Lawyers with disabilities are making headway
When it comes to the number of attorneys and aspiring attorneys with disabilities, the picture is far from clear because few groups collect detailed information on disabled attorneys. Advocates say that is one reason why efforts to increase their presence throughout the profession have lagged behind the parallel pushes to boost the number of women and minorities. Still, doors are opening more and more for disabled attorneys.
From Supreme Court clerk to appellate advocate
Isaac Lidsky has come close to achieving a paperless law office. That’s because Lidsky, an associate in the New York office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, is blind, and paper is not of much use to him. Almost all the documents he deals with are reformatted by a team of support staff for special software that reads the documents aloud to Lidsky.
