Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind
A Pro Bono Legal Outreach Project of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
About the Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind Project
Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind seeks to identify and encourage lawyers to do pro bono work to promote full inclusion of blind people within our legal system. We also work with law schools, other legal clinic programs, and other blindness organizations. This is the only nationwide program of its kind focusing on the blind.
What We Know About Blindness Today
The Action Fund encourages independence for the blind. We have learned that the primary problem facing blind individuals is not their loss of eyesight but myths, misconceptions, and lack of public acceptance. We know that with proper training and fair opportunities, blind people can compete with their sighted peers on terms of equality in all aspects of our society. The objective of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind project is to promote acceptance of the principle of equal opportunity for the blind within our legal system.
Why We Need Volunteer Lawyers
It is said that rights do not exist without remedies. That is the situation faced by too many blind people today.
For decades the blind have worked to secure legal reforms allowing them to participate in various programs and activities. In theory, the law guarantees an appropriate education, equal opportunity in employment, ability to vote independently, individualized vocational rehabilitation services, Social Security Disability Insurance protection, access to public accommodations and services, freedom to travel with guide dogs, and more. Many of these provisions apply uniquely to blind people and can be unfamiliar even to experienced disability counsel.
Remedies tend to be inadequate or unavailable. With an unemployment rate of more than 70 percent, legal assistance is usually too expensive. In addition, potential money damages are typically too small to justify the risk of using otherwise billable hours.
We constantly receive requests for advice and assistance from blind people from throughout the country. While we can provide advice, we are too often unable to help them find competent legal assistance. Yet we know that many lawyers would like to offer pro bono assistance in resolving meritorious complaints.
You can make a difference by volunteering your time and talent to our Volunteer Lawyers project.
Support for Participating Volunteer Lawyers
Your volunteer pro bono time is too valuable to waste! The Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind staff will work with you to make your participation efficient and effective. We will screen complaints. In appropriate situations, we will identify a participating lawyer and ask if he or she would be interested. If so, we will provide expertise on the applicable law and assistance from our nationwide network on strategies that have proven effective in similar cases. With our Volunteer Lawyers network, you will not have to “go it alone.”
The project also provides participating lawyers with regular updates on legal issues involving blindness. We will also offer conference call opportunities and continuing legal education training events for interested participants.
Program Flexibility
We hope you will join us in the important work of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind project. We are convinced you will find the time you invest in program activities to be a highly satisfying part of your law practice. Your willingness to participate does not commit you to spend any specified amount of pro bono time on Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind activities.
For More Information
If you would be interested in learning more about the Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind project, please contact us at:
Charles S. Brown, Esq.
Director
Volunteer Lawyers for the Blind
American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
410-659-9315, ext. 2206
cbrown@actionfund.org