[blindLaw] Mapping anticipated questions beforehand: a good way to counter feelings of inadequacy as a blind attorney

[Rahul Bajaj]

Hi All,

As a blind attorney, one of my most dreaded moments is when I am in front
of a judge or briefing a senior lawyer for an argument and she asks, "show
me where in the pleadings/evidence what you are saying can be found." As my
sighted colleagues race to find the requisite data point, I find myself
conflicted between two thoughts. First, knowing that I may be slower in
locating the information sought and hence why even bother trying to race
against my sighted colleagues? second, this is the name of the game, and I
cannot afford to lag behind.

I was discussing this with one of my mentors, who teaches IP law at Oxford
recently. He told me that the trick in a lot of these situations is mapping
in advance what points might come up and being prepared for them. Even if
you cannot locate the requisite information as fast as others, your
substantive knowledge and preparation will hold you in good stead.

I have been trying to do that more. Yesterday, we had a meeting for a
particular client in my firm. The aim was to go over all matters of that
client which we are handling, to figure out what next steps we need to take
in each, e.g. filing some documents, writing to the client for some pending
information  and the like. I asked 2 colleagues beforehand what would be
expected of me in the meeting. And went through the files in the 5-6
matters of that client that I am staffed on. I made good notes and sent
them to my senior before the meeting. In the meeting, my sighted colleagues
could on the fly locate what the next hearing date is, what the
previous order in a given case stated and so on. I know I cannot do this as
fast as them and would not be able to do it on the fly. but because I was
prepared, I did not feel inadequate and found myself up to the task.

Rahul

-- 
--
Rahul Bajaj
Attorney, Ira Law
Senior Associate Fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
Rhodes Scholar (India and Linacre 2018), University of Oxford
Co-Founder, Mission Accessibility
Special Correspondent on the rights of persons with disabilities, Oxford
Human Rights Hub
Coordinator of the working group on accessibility, e-Committee, Supreme
Court of India