2017 NLADA Annual Conference

In the wake of a lack of a right to counsel for many types of basic human needs cases, courts and legislatures have experimented for years with measures to help unrepresented litigants. But pro se litigants with cognitive disabilities often cannot benefit from self-help services made available to the general public. This panel will explore the concept of courts appointing counsel as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Since 2007, Washington State has made hundreds of ADA appointments across the state pursuant to an authorizing court rule and is expanding this rule to administrative proceedings. Courts and legislative bodies in other states such as Oregon and Utah have developed policies encouraging or prohibiting such appointments, and a federal court held that litigants with cognitive disabilities in immigration removal proceedings are entitled to legal assistance under the federal equivalent of the ADA. We'll talk about the justifications for such an approach, how to build support, and some of the tricky issues involved in providing representation in this context.