To promote the ABA's commitment to justice and the rule of law for persons with mental, physical, and sensory disabilities and to promote their full and equal participation in the legal profession. Click here for more information.

2009 ABA National Conference on the Employment of Lawyers with Disabilities

The Second National Conference on the Employment of Lawyers with Disabilities will be held in Washington D.C., on June 15-16, 2009. The Conference will be hosted by the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law and 2008-2009 ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr.. It is co-sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel. This groundbreaking program aims to: encourage large legal employers, particularly corporations and law firms, to sign pledges to promote diversity and inclusion within the workplace with an emphasis on hiring and retaining lawyers with disabilities; develop best practices for promoting disability diversity and inclusion; and to identify legal employers and work settings that are models for the legal profession. The Conference is part of the ABA’s commitment to open the legal profession to lawyers with disabilities.

The first Conference, in May 2006, was hosted by ABA President Michael S. Greco and sponsored by the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, the ABA Office of the President, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Law firms and other legal employers, federal agencies, law students and lawyers with disabilities, national disability organizations, and law school representatives joined President Greco in this two day event held in Washington D.C. Keynote speakers included former Attorney General, Richard L. Thornburgh, EEOC Chair, Cari M. Dominguez, and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge, David Tatel. Afterwards, a comprehensive Conference Report with specific recommendations was sent to bar leaders, law firms, other legal employers, law schools, and disability organizations. The second Conference plans on emulating the success of the 2006 conference.