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Disability and Professionalism: Inclusive Legal Practice in Action

A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

1:00pm-2:30pm EDT, 10:00am-11:30am PDT

Early Registration Discount Deadline, Friday, August 1, 2025

or call 1-800-926-7926

This CLE professionalism course gives first-hand insight to working with disabled participants in the legal process as counsel, colleague, and advocate.

This webinar will qualify for a professionalism credit in some states.

Description

Legal professionalism is conduct that demonstrates a lawyer's commitment to ethical integrity, service, civility, and competence, reflecting a role as both advocate and officer of the court. CDC statistics hold that while more than one in four adults have a recognized disability, only one in 20 law students self-reported a disability in the 2021 graduating class. This experience disparity holds potential for misunderstanding disabled parties within the justice system.

Effective, professional representation and advocacy requires awareness and support for the disabled experience. This program addresses important elements of professionalism with emphasis on ensuring appropriate and professional interactions with the disabled community.

Learn how to better understand disability in context, recognizing systemic barriers and ableism, knowing the legal foundations for professionalism, and applying new approaches to professional cultural challenges including visibility bias, workplace inclusion, facility and technology design, and more.

Listen as our expert shares her own experience and covers how attorneys can model professionalism in their daily interactions with disabled clients, associates, or opposing counsel.

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Outline

  1. Welcome and introduction
  2. Understanding disability in context
    1. What is a disability? Legal definition vs. social model
    2. Statistics and representation
    3. Systemic barriers and ableism
  3. Legal and ethical foundations of professionalism
    1. ABA Model Rules
      1. Rule 1.1: Competence (includes understanding client's needs)
      2. Rule 1.4: Communication (including accessible formats)
      3. Rule 1.14: Diminished Capacity
      4. Rule 8.4(g): Prohibiting discrimination
    2. Georgia Preamble
      1. Respect for the dignity of all persons
      2. Lawyers as guardians of fairness, justice, and integrity
  4. Professional cultural challenges
    1. Law firm pressures (billable hours, visibility bias)
    2. Workplace inclusion - design for everyone
    3. Examples: bar exam access, virtual CLE captioning, courthouse/incarceration navigation
  5. Five approaches: real world tools for ethical and inclusive behavior
    1. Normalize asking about access: don't assume; respectfully ask what's needed
    2. Use inclusive language: be person-centered and respectful
    3. Design for everyone: caption meetings, use readable materials, avoid jargon
    4. Challenge assumptions: confront unconscious bias and redefine "professionalism"
    5. Hire and promote inclusively: prioritize accessibility in recruitment and leadership
  6. Practical accessibility a closing reflections
  7. Final takeaway: inclusion is a professional competency, not an optional courtesy

Benefits

The course will review these and other key issues:

  • Understand the definition and scope of disability in both social and legal contexts
  • Recognize systemic and attitudinal barriers
  • Increase familiarity with ABA Model Rules and Aspirational Statements on Professionalism and how it applies to disability inclusion and the lawyer's duties
  • Gain actionable strategies for accessible practice in compliance to ADA requirements and professional obligations
  • Prioritize effective communication to enable professional interactions with people who have disabilities

Faculty

Motl, Ann
Ann E. Motl

Senior Counsel
Bowman and Brooke

Ms. Motl concentrates her practice defending medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers in individual product...  |  Read More

Attend on August 26

Early Discount (through 08/01/25)

Cannot Attend August 26?

Early Discount (through 08/01/25)

You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

CLE On-Demand Video