Long before The Florida Bar launched its initiative for lawyers with disabilities, there was the American Association of Visually Impaired Attorneys, formerly known as the American Blind Lawyers Association, formed in 1969.
James Kracht, an assistant county attorney in Miami who is blind, has been a member of the 250-member organization for about 30 years and recently chaired a four-day seminar in Jacksonville that drew about 30 participants.
It was all part of the 45th National Convention of the American Council of the Blind, hosted by the Florida Council of the Blind.
Among those speaking at the seminar were Bar President Hank Coxe and Danielle Strickman, coordinator of The Disability Independence Group and the Disability- Diversity Initiative, a statewide project for Florida lawyers with disabilities, who spoke about involving lawyers with disabilities in identifying issues and finding solutions.
“I think Florida is in the vanguard in stepping up to the plate in identifying barriers and trying to bring some meaningful attention to them,” Kracht said. “The reason I wanted to put on the AAVI program is to get members to go to their bar associations, too. We want inclusion. Right now, what happens is many are not involved in their state bars. . . . The only way to make changes is to get involved.”
Kracht, Strickman, and Pshon Barrett took part in a panel discussion and interaction with the audience on “Sensitivity Training for Coworkers v. Disability-Based Accommodations” that dealt with when lawyers with visual disabilities should ask their employers for accommodations and when co-workers should receive sensitivity training.
Coxe’s speech at the luncheon, Kracht said, was “great, because he showed the Bar’s willingness to stand behind us.”
Coxe shared a couple of anecdotes he learned from a soon-to-be-released survey of lawyers with disabilities:
“In my wildest dreams, I never would have thought about this: A blind attorney, in a hearing before the court, has an inability to read and see the facial expressions of the judge,” Coxe said. “What a remarkable disadvantage that is. What an advantage for the person who can see.
“It does remind you when you have a teleconference with the court for arguments that everything is on an even playing field,” Coxe said.
Another example, Coxe said, is so basic but something he never thought about: In multistory buildings, visually impaired people depend on elevators that ring once or ring twice to tell them whether the elevator is going up or down.
Coxe assured the group that in the last few years the Bar has made it a priority to do more to include lawyers with disabilities in the profession.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Alexander Dorrbecker, of Berlin, Germany, who talked about practicing law with the federal Department of Justice in Berlin and the experiences of blind lawyers in Germany.
“Basically, we provide a forum for members to get together and discuss solutions to the ways they do their jobs, the technology they use and issues they face with judges, lawyers, and fellow practitioners,” Kracht said.
Other speakers at the seminar included:
• Stephen Doroghazi, senior attorney with the IRS in Ft. Lauderdale—“Practicing with the Internal Revenue Service: The Review of a Successful Career of a Blind Tax Practitioner.”
• Kimberly Rodgers, director of the Community Law Program in St. Petersburg—“Pro Bono Involvement of Lawyers in Our Community: Florida’s Experience with the Delivery of Legal Services to the Poor.”
• Christopher Peterson, professor at the University of Florida law school—“Consumer Law, the Yeas and Nays of Visually Impaired Consumers Signing Documents They Have Not Read.”
• Day Al-Mohammed, director of governmental affairs at the American Council of the Blind in Washington, D.C.—“Reopening the ADA to Achieve Consensus: New Efforts, Ideas, and Hopes.”
• Frederick Parmenter, senior trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice— “Employment Opportunities with the Antitrust Division and Diversity Efforts of the Department of Justice.”
• Otis Stephens, University of Tennessee—“What’s New with Our Supreme Court.”
• Jim Neppl, of Rock Island, Illinois; and Oral Miller, of Washington, D.C.—“Update on U.S. Association of Blind Athletes.”
• Barry Scheur, Talking Solutions, Corp., in Boston, Massachusetts—“Technology Update: Smartphones, PDAs, Talking iPods and More.”
• Kathleen Hauck, reference attorney, Thomson/West—“Westlaw Update: Thomson/West’s Initiatives Toward Accessibility and Training Options for the Blind.”