WASHINGTON, D.C., May 2, 2012 — American Bar Association President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III will welcome attendees to the Third National Conference on Employment of Lawyers with Disabilities, May 8, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

The conference, sponsored by the ABA Commission on Disability Rights and co-sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, will feature seven panel discussions during which attendees will learn about laws that protect persons with disabilities in the workplace, explore the current state of diversity and inclusion of lawyers with disabilities, learn about best practices and more.  In addition, attendees will hear first hand from lawyers with disabilities about their own strategies for success.

Seth D. Harris, deputy secretary, U.S. Department of Labor, will present the luncheon keynote address during a 12:45 – 2:15 p.m. session.

“ABA policies encourage the legal profession to eliminate bias and enhance diversity, including for people with disabilities,” said Robinson. “But we still have a long way to go.  The co-sponsorship of this conference by the ACC and MCCA recognizes our unified commitment to improve diversity in the profession as it relates to disability.”

The sessions will also feature:

• ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III;
• Commissioner Chai Feldblum, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
• Simone Wu, chair-elect, Minority Corporate Counsel Association; and senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Choice Hotels International;
• Marc Firestone, executive vice president, Kraft Foods Inc.;
• Past ABA President Robert J. Grey Jr.;
• James Leipold, executive director, National Association for Legal Placement;
• Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Nelson;
• Scott LaBarre, president, National Association of Blind Lawyers; and
• Other government, academic, association and private practitioner lawyers.

Programming includes:

• ADAAA One Year After the Regulations: Employment of Lawyers with Disabilities;
• Disability Inclusion in the Legal Profession:  Status and Prospects;
• Entering the Pipeline: Admissions to Law School and the Bar;
• Inclusion of Lawyers with Disabilities: The Federal Perspective on Best Practices;
• Mentoring as a Building Block for Disability Inclusion in the Workplace;
• Lawyers with Disabilities: Personal Strategies for Success; and
• Disability Inclusion: Corporate and Law Firm Best Practices.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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