[blindlaw] FW: Landmark Agreement with Law School Admission Council to Settle Justice Department's Nationwide Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Thu May 29 23:56:33 UTC 2014

And just as well Michael, for all of us who were flagged on the LSAt, how did we manage to gain entry into law school?  I know for certain that I didn't ace the exam.

Statistically, the number of blind/visually impaired persons who get into law school, compared to the number that take the exam, must be incredibly high.  There aren't many of us who take it yet most of us got into law school.

Daniel McBride
Fort Worth, Texas 

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael Nowicki via blindlaw
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 4:03 PM
To: 'Sy Hoekstra'; 'Blind Law Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] FW: Landmark Agreement with Law Schol Admission Council to Settle Justice Department's Nationwide Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Dear Mr.  Hoekstra and mr.  Beitz,

Thank you for explaining the issue.  I understand that our LSAT scores are currently considered practically invalid, but what are the actual implications of this policy?  Specifically, when a law school admissions officer sees a flagged score, how does he/she typically react?

Best,

Michal

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sy Hoekstra via blindlaw
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 3:48 PM
To: 'Dan Beitz'; 'Blind Law Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] FW: Landmark Agreement with Law Schol Admission Council to Settle Justice Department's Nationwide Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

And the tests would reflect a disabled person's ability to succeed, at least in law school, if they had proper accommodations. The LSAC also has to engage in some sort of review of their accommoodations policy as part of the settlement, though I don't know the details. But I know if I had had jaws and a laptop for the multiple choice, I would have done better than I did with a reader, and it would have been an actual sample of my testing ability, which is largely the determinate for success in law school.  

Plus, part of their flagging policy was not to factor in extra time exam scores into their calculation of percentile scores or give examinees who used extra time their personal percentile score. That is essentially a message to the world, and law school admissions officers, that people who use extra time aren't taking the real exam.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dan Beitz via blindlaw
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 4:27 PM
To: Michael Nowicki; Blind Law Mailing List; 'Nightingale, Noel'
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] FW: Landmark Agreement with Law Schol Admission Council to Settle Justice Department's Nationwide Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

The flagging of test scores almost always means that the results are considered not statistically valid, and allegedly invalid scores are disregarded.

Daniel K. Beitz
Wienner & Gould, P.C.
950 University Dr., Ste. 350
Rochester, MI  48307
Phone:  (248) 841-9405
Fax:  (248) 652-2729
dbeitz at wiennergould.com

www.wiennergould.com

This email transmission and any documents, files or previous email messages attached to it may contain confidential information that is legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient or the individual responsible for delivering this email to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution or use of any of the information contained herein or attached to this email is strictly prohibited.  Should you receive this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the sender of this email or by telephoning us at (248) 841-9400.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael Nowicki via blindlaw
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 4:23 PM
To: 'Nightingale, Noel'; 'Blind Law Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] FW: Landmark Agreement with Law Schol Admission Council to Settle Justice Department's Nationwide Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Dear List Members,

I am concerned that this settlement, if accepted and adopted, will end up hurting more than helping prospective blind lawyers.  After all, based on what I know, standardized test scores of persons with disabilities often don't reflect their ability to succeed in the relevant educational program.  Consequently, doesn't the flagging of LSAT scores actually increase a qualified blind applicant's chances of law school acceptance?  I know that flagging could also have potentially negative consequences, but don't the positive ones tend to outweigh the negatives?  I look forward to your opinions on this matter.

Sincerely,

Michal Nowicki

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nightingale, Noel via blindlaw
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 12:25 PM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] FW: Landmark Agreement with Law Schol Admission Council to Settle Justice Department's Nationwide Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

From: U.S. Department of Justice [mailto:usdoj at public.govdelivery.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 10:07 AM
To: Nightingale, Noel
Subject: Landmark Agreement with Law Schol Admission Council to Settle Justice Department's Nationwide Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

The Justice Department filed a joint motion today for entry of a landmark consent decree <http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTQwNTIwLjMyMzUzMTcxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE0MDUyMC4zMjM1MzE3MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDI5MDAxJmVtYWlsaWQ9bm9lbC5uaWdodGluZ2FsZUBlZC5nb3YmdXNlcmlkPW5vZWwubmlnaHRpbmdhbGVAZWQuZ292JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&100&&&http://www.ada.gov/defh_v_lsac/lsac_consentdecree.htm> to resolve allegations that the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) engaged in widespread and systemic discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Under the proposed consent decree, LSAC will pay $7.73 million in penalties and damages to compensate well over 6,000 individuals nationwide who applied for testing accommodations on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) over the past five years.  The decree also requires comprehensive reforms to LSAC’s policies and ends its practice of “flagging,” or annotating, LSAT score reports for test takers with disabilities who receive extended time as an accommodation.  These reforms will impact tens of thousands of test takers with disabilities for years to come.

For more information or for a copy of the consent decree, please visit our ADA website at www.ada.gov<http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTQwNTIwLjMyMzUzMTcxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE0MDUyMC4zMjM1MzE3MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDI5MDAxJmVtYWlsaWQ9bm9lbC5uaWdodGluZ2FsZUBlZC5nb3YmdXNlcmlkPW5vZWwubmlnaHRpbmdhbGVAZWQuZ292JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&101&&&http://www.ada.gov>.  Those interested in finding out more about the ADA may also call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line <http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTQwNTIwLjMyMzUzMTcxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE0MDUyMC4zMjM1MzE3MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDI5MDAxJmVtYWlsaWQ9bm9lbC5uaWdodGluZ2FsZUBlZC5nb3YmdXNlcmlkPW5vZWwubmlnaHRpbmdhbGVAZWQuZ292JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&102&&&http://www.ada.gov/infoline.htm> at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TDD).

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