[blindlaw] ABA Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights Goal III 2011 Recipient, ABA Commission on Mental and Disability Law

[Nightingale, Noel]

Link:
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_services/mental_physical_disability/initiatives_awards/the_paul_g_hearne_award_for_disability_rights.html
Text:
ABA Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights
Initiatives & Awards Disability Diversity in the Legal Profession

Marc Maurer and Daniel Goldstein have been selected to receive the 2011 Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights. Maurer, the president of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), and Goldstein, a partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, have served and advocated for the disability community for over 25 years.

The award, sponsored by Starbucks Coffee Company, will be presented on August 8, 2011 at the ABA-CMPDL Annual Meeting Reception for Lawyers with Disabilities in Toronto, Canada.

As president of the NFB since 1986, Maurer has overseen the expansion of the National Center for the Blind to include the Jernigan Institute, where researchers build products "by the blind for the blind." He previously served as president of the National Association of Blind Lawyers, the NFB of Maryland, and the World Blind Union North America/Caribbean Region. Goldstein is one of the country's top disability-rights litigators, having most recently represented Stephanie Enyart, a low-vision law school graduate, in her suit against the National Conference of Bar Examiners for failing to provide her proper accommodations to take the California Bar Exam.

In addition to their individual accomplishments, Maurer and Goldstein have collaborated to make technology more accessible to blind and low-vision individuals. By initiating a national legal campaign to encourage technology manufacturers to design accessible products and by bringing lawsuits against those who refused to do so, Maurer and Goldstein have made ATM machines, cell phones, iPods and e-books more accessible. Their efforts have resulted in settlement agreements and collaborative partnerships with ATM-manufacturer Cardtronics, Target.com, Apple Computers and its iTunes program, America Online and voting machine manufacturers. Both also played roles in creating the Disability Rights Bar Association, the first ever plaintiff-side organization comprised of attorneys representing individuals with disabilities.