The American Bar Association will hold a Town Hall Discussion “Advocating for Equality in the Next Generation – Disability Rights” at Vanderbilt University Law School on Jan. 25, 2013, in the Moore Room. The ABA Town Hall Series is designed to encourage dialogue among law students, young lawyers, experienced members of the bar, and others in the community about how the legal profession should address issues of inequality, intolerance and discrimination in the profession and in society. Paula Pearlman, executive director of the Disability Rights Legal Center will be the keynote speaker. Registration is free. Please RSVP by Jan. 23 to irr@americanbar.org
According to the National Law Journal, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have filed suit against the Law School Admission Council on behalf of 22 students, alleging the council violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by denying proper accommodations for taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Council administrators state that their process for granting accommodations is rigorous but fair, and does not violate anyone’s rights.
The former financial advisor and owner of A.D. Vallett & Co. has been sentenced to 120 months in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 30 victims of over $5 million, BrentwoodHomePage reports. Aaron Vallett pleaded guilty to orchestrating the Ponzi scheme. His sentence was announced as the Department of Justice kicks off a series of investment fraud summits in cities across the country, including Nashville. The event was held at Vanderbilt School of Law this morning.
Volunteer at one of three legal clinics -- "The Puck Stops Here" -- to help stop bullying in schools. The events are sponsored by the Nashville Predators and the Disability Law Advocacy Center (DLAC) to help students and their families identify, prevent, and legally respond to bullying in schools. Volunteer attorneys are needed at the clinics for brief client consultations and to assist clients in drafting key points in notification letters to schools and/or an OCR complaints. Learn more here. DLAC will provide training for all volunteer attorneys on bullying legal issues on Aug. 24. The clinics will be in Clarksville, Sept. 15; Nashville, Oct. 6; and Lebanon, Nov. 10. For more information, contact Sherry Wilds at DLAC at (615) 298-‐1080, ext. 141 or at sherryw@dlactn.org
A short video is now available to help lawyers when they provide pro bono legal services to persons with disabilities. The project from the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission -- Providing Legal Services to Persons with Disabilities -- raises awareness and reduces the barriers that persons with disabilities face when seeking legal services. The 12-minute video provides general etiquette tips on interacting with individuals with disabilities and highlights specific examples of common scenarios that people with disabilities encounter when seeking legal services. The Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee developed the video with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. Learn more from the AOC
A court aimed at helping veterans who come to the criminal justice system as a result of drug addictions, homelessness and other situations brought on by the ravages of untreated wartime stress held its first session this week in Clarksville. General Sessions Judge Ken Goble brought the court to order on Tuesday, telling one early participant, “This is for those who have sacrificed and are now in a bad place. This is a chance to get you off the road you’re on.” Learn more about the court from the AOC.
In partnership with the Tennessee Division of Elections, the Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee is presenting "Vote TN!," a series of free voting conferences across the state to educate about disability voting rights. Topics will include disability-related barriers during the voting process, potential solutions to these barriers, and step-by-step instruction on training others about voting access. Pre-register and learn more about dates and locations.
A former law student has won a bid in bankruptcy court to discharge nearly $340,000 in education debt because her diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome rendered her unable to repay the loans. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland last week found that Carol Todd, who attended the University of Baltimore School of Law, met the difficult burden of showing that she would suffer undue hardship if forced to repay her debt. Read about it in the National Law Journal
Kenneth Wade Jr. this week confessed to a charge of threatening to kill Social Security Administrative Law Judge K. Dickson Grissom after the judge denied Wade Social Security benefits. Wade now says he armed himself with a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol in February and waited outside Grissom's Knoxville office "so that he could shoot him, but the judge did not come out." The News Sentinel reports
Shelby County Chancellor Arnold Goldin's job has some perks, like presiding over the adoption of 7-year-old Keona Vaughn, as he did Monday with assistance from lawyer Kevin Weaver. Keona was shaken when she was 3 months old and was left severely developmentally delayed, but Debbie and Mark Vaughn say the blessings are all theirs. Read more in the Commercial Appeal
Chattanooga lawyer Terrence Olsen talks to the Hamilton County Herald about his practice and how a lifelong disability has helped shape his work helping immigrants, as well as his drive to provide pro bono. “Since I had a stutter," he says, "I couldn’t actually express what I wanted to, and if you have a language that’s a second language, you have the same issue,” he says."I wanted to give individuals a voice."
