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Is Your Office ADA Compliant? U A L I
Legal Requirements and Practical
Tips for Representing Clients with
Disabilities
Rachel Arfa
Staff Attorney
Equip for Equality
Chicago Bar Association
Legal Aid Committee Meeting
October 17, 2013
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Applicable Laws: the ADA
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as
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amended (2008)
Prohibits discrimination on behalf of people
with disabilities
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Illinois law on providing equal
access for clients with disabilities
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• Illinois Attorneys have an obligation to comply with
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state and local anti-discrimination laws in representing
clients with disabilities including:
 Illinois Human Rights Act
 Cook County Human Rights Ordinance
 Chicago Human Rights Ordinance
Illinois Supreme Court Rules of Professional Conduct
for Attorneys
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Titles of the Americans with
Disabilities Act
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Title I: Prohibits discrimination on the basis of
Employment
Title II: Prohibits discrimination by state and local
government services
Title III: Prohibits discrimination by places of public
accommodation
Title IV: Requires and regulates telephone relay
services
Title V: Misc. provisions including retaliation
protections
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Americans with Disabilities Act
• Today’s focus is on Title III: Lawyer’s services
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and offices are considered a place of public
accommodation under Title III
Title II: state and local government entities are
required to provide accommodations for parties
with disabilities – often attorneys will need to
advocate to ensure this access is provided
 Illinois Attorney General’s Disability Rights
Bureau is a good resource
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Obligation under ADA when
representing a client with a disability
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• Title III of the ADA provides that a public accommodation
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“…shall take steps to ensure that no individual with a
disability is excluded, denied services, segregated, or
otherwise treated differently than other individuals because
of the absence of auxiliary aids and services…”
Attorneys are considered a public accommodation and
must provide accommodations. 42 U.S.C.§12181(7)(F)
Public accommodations “…shall furnish appropriate
auxiliary aids and services where necessary to ensure
effective communication with individuals with disabilities.”
28 C.F.R. §36.303 (c)(1)
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Everyone in your organization is
responsible for ensuring equal access
• Attorneys have ethical obligation under RPC
5.3(a) and (b)
• RPC 5.3(b), “A lawyer having direct supervisory
authority over the nonlawyer shall make
reasonable efforts to ensure that the person’s
conduct is compatible with the professional
obligations of the lawyer.”
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This obligation includes:
• RPC 5.3 Comments define assistants as:
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secretaries, investigators, law student interns,
paraprofessionals
Assistants, whether employees or independent
contractors act for the lawyer in rendition of the
lawyer’s professional services
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How to make sure you’re
accessible from the start:
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• Train your support staff on:
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How to communicate with people with disabilities.
Explain obligations to be accessible under the
Americans with Disabilities Act
How to accept and conduct video relay calls and
TTY calls from deaf and hard of hearing clients. It is
illegal to say “we don’t provide sign language
interpreters.”
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How to make sure you’re
accessible from the start (cont):
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• Provide forms in alternative format for blind and
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visually impaired clients, offer to assist in completing
form, don’t ask a visually impaired person to use a sign
in sheet if he/she is unable to read without assistance
When providing referrals to other organizations or
online sources, check to see if the information is easy
to find and/or lists a contact person
• The person may need an accommodation and if that
information is hard for you to find, the client will
likely have difficulty finding it too
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How to make sure you’re
accessible from the start (cont):
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• Evaluate your website – ADA and RPC rules
require equal access
 Are all videos captioned or have a
transcript?
 Are transcripts provided with podcasts?
 Are online forms offered in alternative format
or downloadable using MS Word?
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When representing a client with a
disability
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• Ask what kind of accommodations the person
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needs
 What accommodations do you need?
 What do you need for us to communicate?
Do not assume you know best what kind of
accommodations the person needs
Do not assume that another person you met
with the same disability means this person
needs the exact same accommodation
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DOJ Complaint filed v. Attorney for notQ U A L I
providing right accommodations
• Attorney represented deaf woman, did not use
sign language interpreter when meeting with her.
• Divorce case, where wife also experienced
domestic violence in marriage
• Attorney-client meetings: Deaf client did not
understand what was discussed
• Attorney at times used client’s sister (who was also
not a qualified interpreter) to interpret
http://www.ada.gov/tirone.htm
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DOJ Complaint filed v. Attorney for not
providing right accommodations
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• To communicate, attorney also used pen and
paper, fax, lipreading and the relay service when
communicating by phone. These methods took
longer than if a qualified sign language interpreter
had been provided, which resulted in higher
attorneys fees to client.
• DOJ investigation found that attorney failed to
provide client with effective communication.
• Attorney was ordered to pay a fine and waive all
attorneys fees owed.
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Attorney role as Advisor
• RPC 2.1: Role as advisor, “In rendering advice,
a lawyer may refer not only to law but to other
considerations such as moral, economic, social
and political factors that may be relevant to the
client’s situation.”
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Attorney as Advisor Comments
• Consider social factors
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Example- representing deaf and hard of hearing
clients
Wide range of identity among deaf and hard of
hearing community
Some deaf people communicate by speaking and
lipreading, while others use American Sign
Language – which can result in distinct life
experiences and attitudes
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RPC 2.1 Comments
Social Factors continued
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• Be aware of cultural differences
• Societal factor: many deaf persons graduate
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from high school reading at a fourth grade
reading level
Will need assistance in breaking down legal
terminology
Ex. - Be sure not to simply read settlement
agreement – language may be too advanced.
Instead, break down what it means.
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Attorney responsibility to keep
information confidential
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• RPC 1.6 Confidentiality: “A lawyer shall not reveal
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information relating to the representation of a client
unless the client gives informed consent…”
Discuss with client before revealing information
Frequently, clients with disabilities have information
about them shared without consent, such as to a family
member
Hidden disabilities: clients with hidden disabilities may
want to keep their disability confidential
Others may want to keep disability related information
confidential, even if disability is obvious
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Obtaining Informed Consent
• RPC 1.4: “A lawyer shall promptly inform the client of
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any decision or circumstance with respect to which the
client’s informed consent…is required…”
Ex: Explain important provisions in legal documents
If a client has minimal language, use appropriate
accommodations and review the agreement to ensure
that you have informed consent
If client has visual impairment, provide document in
accessible format, read document
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Questions?
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Is Your Office ADA Compliant? U A L I
Legal Requirements and Practical
Tips for Representing Clients with
Disabilities
Rachel Arfa
Staff Attorney
Equip for Equality
Rachela@equipforequality.org
312-278-7001 (VP)
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