The Society has developed a checklist to provide guidance to law practices that want to be more accessible to clients with disability.
The checklist is designed to be a helpful guide for firms who want to be more disability friendly. The checklist is not meant to be exhaustive or prescriptive, but a helpful reference for firms so that clients with disability can more easily access the legal support they need. The checklist will also help people with disability find law firms that they feel comfortable with.
The Society has upgraded its legal referral service, See a Lawyer Referral Service, to help clients with disability find law firms that are able to accommodate their needs.
Any firms that satisfy any items on the disability access checklist can include that information on the legal referral service. This means that any client who is searching for a firm with particular disability access features can easily find a firm that will suit their needs. Some examples of disability access features that clients may be looking for may include:
- Cerebral palsy client requiring lawyer with skills or training in communicating with people with neurological conditions
- Hard of hearing client requiring law firm to have augmented hearing systems
- Client with mobility issues requiring lawyer who can meet at convenient external location, or remotely
The checklist is designed for all types of law practices. We want to ensure that clients with disability feel comfortable receiving legal advice for any legal issue they have. We recognise that not all firms have the scale and resources to be fully accessible, but we hope the checklist can help firms consider some simple changes they could make to better serve clients with disability.
Click here to access the Disability Friendly Firms Checklist