ADA Advocacy

 

As Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") Advocates, our main goal is to ensure our client's disability is reasonably accommodated, to allow our client to fully participate in public and/or government services, and in litigation settings, to level the playing field between our client and their adversary. Some of what we offer our client includes:

  • Gather information and formally draft an ADA Accommodation Request to ensure the client has equal access and can fully participate in public and government offered services, including but not limited to: colleges and universities, litigation processes, public spaces and businesses, etc.;
  • Negotiate alternative reasonable accommodations;
  • Request Court reimbursement for Advocacy costs;
  • Ensure our client's service animal is accepted and allowed access to public and government spaces;
  • Foster the highest level of functional effectiveness for the litigant during legal proceedings, meetings, and other situations as needed; 
  • Enhance the client's independence to independently participate in public and government services;
  • Navigate the bureaucracy to mitigate and/or overcome obstructions that threaten to prevent the disabled person’s equal participation in public and government related services;
  • Act as liaison/filter/translator when communication is traumatic for the client, i.e. domestic violence cases requiring communication with abusive spouse, communicating with government officials that are working to deny the client justice, etc.'
  • Ensure that boundaries are maintained to prevent intimidation or exploitation of the client while they are attempting to participate in a public or government service, such as during a hearing, while attending classes with their service dog, etc.;
  • Help to establish safe emotional boundaries during court for the client while adhering to the rules of the litigation process;
  • Assist in getting the witnesses in and out of the courtroom in a timely and orderly fashion;
  • Assist in a broad spectrum of issues that pertain to the client’s accessibility, and assist to maintain a fair legal process keeping the advocate’s role as protected under the ADAAA;
  • Attend court to assist the litigant and attorney and ensure the client is not being discriminated against;
  • Hold a power of attorney (when requested) for legal, medical, and/or other purposes as narrow or broad as is needed;
  • Provide supportive counseling using Dr. Karen Huffer’s 8-Steps as a guide, to support litigants and help them to be comfortable and functional;
  • Act as liaison, keeping in contact with the appropriate ADA administrative office, the judge’s staff, and opposing attorneys;
  • Prepare for courtroom requirements such as planning the litigant’s table arrangements, preparing the client for the next hearing, meeting with opposing staff, or designing cues and working out a system of cuing the judge when an accommodation is required;
  • Provide or arrange for notary public services to facilitate proper and timely document filing and swearing in if testimony is provided long distance;
  • Help to index and maintain files in proper order in court;
  • Support the client in locating target research helpful to the case;
  • Refer the client to medical and legal resources as needed;
  • Evaluate the appropriateness of mediation;
  • Establish the client’s weaknesses and strengths to rule out malingering.

If a public entity or government entity is reluctant to reasonably accommodate our client, we may also escalate our activity in our client's case. This may include filing administrative appeals, contacting senior management or filing human rights violation complaints at the State level. In extreme cases we may act on our own behalf, opposing the discrimination and requesting injunctive relief in Federal Court to prevent or put an end to discrimination we are witnessing or we may refer you to the Civil Rights Attorney we work with, who is able to handle disability access claims in Federal Court.