[blindLaw] Prospective law student

[James T. Fetter]

 Chelsea,As someone who has done disability rights work, I have a few thoughts. First, one does not typically specialize in law school, nor do I think it does much good to try. The goal of a J.D. is to learn how to think and, to some extent write, like a lawyer. Although I also had strong interests in disability rights and attended Ohio State, which has one of the preeminent legal scholars in disability rights on the faculty, I only took one class specifically in disability rights. When I started practicing, what I learned in my Federal Courts class probably benefited me more than the specialized disability rights knowledge I obtained in Disability Discrimination. I would thus advise picking your law school based more on rank, quality of the faculty, and whether accommodations are likely to be a constant battle or a non-issue. I was very fortunate that I never once had to fight about accommodations while at Ohio State. Unfortunately, that is not the universal experience of blind law students, even in 2020. Having said that, I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of having a mentor/champion on the faculty. Given that you want to pursue disability rights work, I would seriously consider looking at law schools, e.g. Ohio State, Michigan, American, with faculty members who are passionate about disability rights. They will be able to give you guidance, connect you with disability rights practitioners, and will help you fight through the discrimination that you will inevitably face while seeking employment.Re: LSAT training, I just worked through a book with multiple practice tests. I think LSAC's accommodations process has improved, but when I dealt with them, it was a Kafkaesque nightmare. I would thus advise being as proactive as possible and not backing down, until you get the accommodations you need.
I hope this helps, and best of luck as you embark on your legal career!James    On Thursday, December 3, 2020, 01:06:49 PM EST, Julie McGinnity via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:  
 
 Hi Chelsea,

I thought about this as well before going to law school. I am
currently just finishing up my first semester, so my advice may not be
as good as others, but it should be pretty current.

At first, I considered going to a school that had no disability rights
or education programs, which was what I originally wanted to do with
my law degree. When I talked to the university about this, they
encouraged me to go through their mediation program because it would
be helpful to learn dispute mediation skills as a disability rights
attorney. Now, in all honesty, I don't know how that would have worked
out because I moved across the country and chose a different school
with a strong civil rights, disability rights, and advocacy focus. But
my point is that there are different ways of getting where you're
going. If your school is willing to help you get internships in
disability law and will give you skills you will need in your future
law career, like strong legal writing and dispute mediation perhaps,
then the school may be worth considering.

Ask them the hard questions, and make sure the school has a strong
career office that is willing to support your goals.

Feel free to connect with me off list. We blind law students need to
stick together!

Julie

On 12/3/20, Chelsea Dye via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm interested in obtaining a J.D. from my local university. I'd like
> to specialize in disability rights, but it doesn't look like that's
> something they have. The closest they come is special education law.
> My questions are what do you recommend for LSAT training and where to
> go for specializing in disability rights law?
>
> Thank you,
> Chelsea
>
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-- 
Julie A. McGinnity
MM Vocal Performance, 2015; American University Washington College of
Law, JD Candidate 2023

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