[blindLaw] Discrimination

James T. Fetter jtfetter at yahoo.com
Tue Sep 24 16:37:10 UTC 2019


I recently heard from a friend of mine--also blind, also an attorney, 
practicing for quite some time now--that many employers pretty much look 
at a blind person's success in law school as a "parlor trick" and not an 
indication of your ability to thrive in practice. I think he's right, 
and it makes a great deal of sense in light of my experience. Too many 
employers do not equate doing well in law school, which is still 
extremely important by the way, with all the things that law school 
doesn't prepare you for: taking depositions, handling contentious 
meetings with opposing counsel, reviewing documents, and, of course, 
handling evidence with any kind of visual aspect to it. You almost have 
to prove that you can do all of these things before being?? seen as 
potentially able to do them in practice. I understand that things are 
somewhat less grim for people who have clerkships. I will soon find out 
if this is true in my own case. I also don't know if the same fears 
cloud employers' judgments in a transactional or compliance?? setting, 
given the nature of the work. So, be prepared for a lot of rejection, 
but still be the best possible candidate, so that you can be competitive 
for opportunities that can act as a bridge to a long-term, full-time 
position.




On 9/24/2019 11:42 AM, Cody Davis via BlindLaw wrote:
> Remarkably discriminatory. Far more so than my naive self thought when I was first licensed.
>
>> On Sep 24, 2019, at 10:43 AM, Sanho Steele-Louchart via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> All,
>>
>> Good morning. How discriminatory have you found hiring practices so
>> far? Messages are welcome on or off-list.
>>
>> Warmth,
>> Sanho
>>
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