[blindLaw] Prospective law student

Sat Dec 5 17:55:09 UTC 2020

Hello,

I am chiming in as I am completing my MLS degree in spring and looking to apply for law school.

My parents has been funding my education for the MLS degree. The Department Services for the Blind is unwilling for fund my J.D degree as they funded my B.A. degree. My parents are arguing that law school is expensive and they are worried about the cost for them. I argue that I should take on loans etc. like most of other students.

What are your feelings on this? Do you feel that the lawyering market is secured enough for blind lawyers in terms of employment? Finding work in general has been difficult for me for years and I experienced a lot of discrimination during the process. It seems that lawyering is one of the best job opportunities for people with disabilities.

Thank y'all!

Vaughn

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw <blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Chelsea Dye via BlindLaw
Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2020 10:38 AM
To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Chelsea Dye <lady.arwen15 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [blindLaw] Prospective law student

Hi James and Julie,

Thanks for the advice.

I graduated from the University of Akron in 2011 with a communications
degree. They don't have anything specific to disability law in their
selection--but they do have constitutional, advocacy, wealth law, etc.
Like you said, it might be a round-about way, but it could get me what
I need.

Was the LSAT book you read through Bookshare? That's where I've
obtained my materials.

How did you find taking the Bar exam?

Chelsea

On 12/3/20, James T. Fetter via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>  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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