The Purpose Of A Disability Law ClinicAs part of law education, almost every state university throughout the US has included a course on disability laws. The course has been included by all reputed American law schools. The course covers practical aspects that students undergo by attending a disability law clinic. Under a clinic, law students take up discrimination related cases of disabled persons living in the neighborhood. They represent such disabled persons during court or tribunal hearings and advocate for the rights of these disabled persons. They fight the cases on grounds of discrimination on a free of cost basis. They reinforce the theoretical part of the education concerning disability law by taking part in the practical aspects of discrimination and disability laws. They even submit a report to their homeschool instructors on the discrimination cases they represent in court. A disability law clinic serves many purposes. On the one hand it serves to provide a practical insight to law students into the intricacies of disability laws and discrimination. On the other hand it helps those disabled persons who are not aware of disability laws and who may also not be economically self-sufficient to fight discrimination against them on their own. This is because law students provide advocacy services free of cost to them. Such a disability law clinic also helps disabled clients deal with decision makers and officials who may be insensitive to their needs and difficulties. The educated law students help to bridge the gap between disabled persons and decision makers and officials. Besides this academic disability law clinic, a professional lawyer represented disability law clinic is available in every major city in the US. This facility comes to the help of disabled people under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Legal Consultation Services (ALCS) framework. The lawyers who staff such a clinic are experts in matters pertaining to the disability law, especially in respect of the ADA. The job of these lawyers is to make disabled persons aware of their own rights involving discrimination in the areas of education, housing, and employment. They provide consultative services to disabled persons. They even provide assistance to disabled persons in filing complaints and in securing legal representatives to fight the cases on behalf of disabled persons in court. These lawyers also provide consultative services to attorneys, municipalities, and business owners to enable them to better understand the ADA. They also provide consultancy to explain the intricacies of other disability laws applicable in the area of fair housing, employment, workplace discrimination, and special education. Regardless whether it is in the professional domain or in the academic one, a disability law clinic is a veritable boon for disabled individuals. Disabled people look up to it with a sense of gratitude. |