[blindlaw] service of process and reasonable accomodations

Ray Wayne RWayne1 at nyc.rr.com
Sat Nov 22 01:13:47 UTC 2008


I would never make this argument!  It would suggest that we who are blind
cannot handle printed material.
I was served with process once.  I asked the guy where it was from, and when
he told me, I knew what it was about.
Ray

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Gilmore" <m_b_gilmore at yahoo.com>
To: <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 8:20 AM
Subject: [blindlaw] service of process and reasonable accomodations


This question is for Virginia lawyers--but people from other jurisdictions
feel free to chime in.

I was watching ER last night (yes, I'm one of those people who still watch
it regularly after all these years. You know, you start it at the beginning
and you gotta see how it ends.) Anyway, Dr. Raskotra was served and is being
sued for medical malpractice. All of a sudden, a light went off in my head.

As lawyers, I'm sure some of you have been served because of your clients or
in general (e.g., divorce, whatever.) Has anyone ever thought of using as a
basis for improper service that you weren't served in an alternate format
(i.e., braille) and as such, your right to reasonable accomodation under the
ADA has been violated? Granted, Virginia law doesn't allow this as a basis
upon which to raise improper service (and I'm sure other jurisdictions don't
as well.) But, who's to say we can't use this as a basis? I mean, if the ACB
can raise a lawsuit for braille money, what's to stop us from asserting this
as a ground in the service of process phase? Concededly, federal civil
procedure doesn't allow for this ground either; but, think about it. We are
handed a document and how many of us have a scanner or SARA sitting in our
briefcase to scan the document? Sure, some of us may have a sighted
assistant who can say, "It's a complaint by John Doe", but what
 about those lawyers who don't have sighted assistants?

Of course, the other side to the argument is, "Well, someone comes up to you
and says you've been served, it's logical that you being an attorney would
realize what the document is. People just don't walk up to others and say,
"Congratulations! You've been served!""

Just something to ponder. I'd love to hear opinions and thoughts. Keep in
mind, I'm not saying we should assert this as a ground for improper service;
we must obey the statues and rules of civil procedure in the federal and
state jurisdictions. It's just something to chew on.

Mike



_______________________________________________
blindlaw mailing list
blindlaw at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
blindlaw:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/rwayne1%40nyc.rr.c
om





More information about the BlindLaw mailing list