[blindLaw] ABA #BeCounted Campaign for Lawyers with Disabilities

[rothmanjd at gmail.com]

The American Bar Association's Commission on Disability Rights invites you
to take part in the #BeCounted campaign during Disability Pride Month this
July. 

 

The #BeCounted campaign encourages lawyers with disabilities across the
country to add themselves to our growing U.S. map. Why? Because lawyers with
disabilities are significantly underrepresented and underreported in the
legal profession. According to the 2021
<https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/diversity-inclus
ion-center/2021-md-survey-2nd-edition.pdf> ABA Model Diversity Survey,
"[a]ttorneys with a disability are generally underreported and/or
underrepresented at every level and are significantly more likely to work in
the "Other Attorney" role compared to all other groups within law firms."
Also, "[f]or the most recent year, most law firms did not hire a single
attorney [who] self-identified as . . . having a disability."  Furthermore,
according to a
<https://www.nalp.org/uploads/Research/2023NALPReportonDiversityFinal.pdf>
2023 report from the National Association of Law Placement (NALP), only 1.4%
of law firm lawyers surveyed self-identified as having a disability. We (and
NALP) believe there are more, given that one in four adults in the United
States have a disability. 

 

Join our #BeCounted campaign and express your disability pride. To
participate, complete our short digital form, which will ask for your city
and state and disability/ies.

 

Visit this link for the survey:

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/diversity/disabilityrights/initiatives_aw
ards/becounted/

 

 Note: This is an ongoing initiative, so we will be accepting responses
beyond July.  

 

To view the map, visit our #BeCounted page and follow us on Twitter (
<https://twitter.com/ABADisability> @ABADisability) for updates. If you have
any questions, please email Amy Allbright at
<mailto:amy.allbright at americanbar.org> amy.allbright at americanbar.org. 

 

In solidarity, 
ABA Commission on Disability Rights 

 

 

 

Ronza Othman, President

National Federation of the Blind of Maryland

443-426-4110

Pronouns: she, her, hers

 

The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland knows that blindness is not
the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back