About the Course
Introduction
This CLE professionalism course gives first-hand insight to working with disabled participants in the legal process as counsel, colleague, and advocate.
This webinar will qualify for a professionalism credit in some states.
Description
Legal professionalism is conduct that demonstrates a lawyer's commitment to ethical integrity, service, civility, and competence, reflecting a role as both advocate and officer of the court. CDC statistics hold that while more than one in four adults have a recognized disability, only one in 20 law students self-reported a disability in the 2021 graduating class. This experience disparity holds potential for misunderstanding disabled parties within the justice system.
Effective, professional representation and advocacy requires awareness and support for the disabled experience. This program addresses important elements of professionalism with emphasis on ensuring appropriate and professional interactions with the disabled community.
Learn how to better understand disability in context, recognizing systemic barriers and ableism, knowing the legal foundations for professionalism, and applying new approaches to professional cultural challenges including visibility bias, workplace inclusion, facility and technology design, and more.
Listen as our expert shares her own experience and covers how attorneys can model professionalism in their daily interactions with disabled clients, associates, or opposing counsel.
Presented By
With a background in labor and employment litigation, Ms. Colón helps clients stay in line with employment law, especially in the midst of corporate transactions.
Alongside of her traditional labor and employment work, Ms. Colón is the cofounder of Husch Blackwell's Workplace Diversity, Equity & Inclusion practice group. Ms. Colón and her team look at the intersection of DEIA best practices and civil rights law, providing clients with risk assessments, performing pay equity analyses, offering trainings and drafting strategic, forward-looking plans. She works with clients in all stages of DEIA planning, from those who need a program built from scratch to organizations with advanced initiatives looking for fine-tuning.
Ms. Motl concentrates her practice defending medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers in individual product liability lawsuits, mass torts, multidistrict litigation and class actions, leveraging her mechanical engineering background to practice in the intersection of technology and law. She has experience serving as national coordinating counsel for medical device companies and always strives to preserve company resources while reducing risk. Ms. Motl has appeared in state and federal courts across the country conducting witness interviews, depositions and drafting and arguing motions. She devises and provides technology strategy to her clients in a variety of areas, including discovery, witness interviews, corporate deposition preparation and expert witness work. Ms. Motl is well-versed in eDiscovery and handles almost all aspects of the discovery process for her medical device clients including identification, collection, protective orders, ESI protocols, document review and production of documents.
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An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.
Date + Time
- event
Thursday, September 4, 2025
- schedule
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
I. Welcome and introduction
II. Understanding disability in context
A. What is a disability? Legal definition vs. social model
B. Statistics and representation
C. Systemic barriers and ableism
III. Legal and ethical foundations of professionalism
A. ABA Model Rules
- Rule 1.1: Competence (includes understanding client's needs)
- Rule 1.4: Communication (including accessible formats)
- Rule 1.14: Diminished Capacity
- Rule 8.4(g): Prohibiting discrimination
B. Georgia Preamble
- Respect for the dignity of all persons
- Lawyers as guardians of fairness, justice, and integrity
IV. Professional cultural challenges
A. Law firm pressures (billable hours, visibility bias)
B. Workplace inclusion - design for everyone
C. Examples: bar exam access, virtual CLE captioning, courthouse/incarceration navigation
V. Five approaches: real world tools for ethical and inclusive behavior
A. Normalize asking about access: don't assume; respectfully ask what's needed
B. Use inclusive language: be person-centered and respectful
C. Design for everyone: caption meetings, use readable materials, avoid jargon
D. Challenge assumptions: confront unconscious bias and redefine "professionalism"
E. Hire and promote inclusively: prioritize accessibility in recruitment and leadership
VI. Practical accessibility a closing reflections
VII. Final takeaway: inclusion is a professional competency, not an optional courtesy
The course will review these and other key issues:
- Understand the definition and scope of disability in both social and legal contexts
- Recognize systemic and attitudinal barriers
- Increase familiarity with ABA Model Rules and Aspirational Statements on Professionalism and how it applies to disability inclusion and the lawyer's duties
- Gain actionable strategies for accessible practice in compliance to ADA requirements and professional obligations
- Prioritize effective communication to enable professional interactions with people who have disabilities
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Working Remotely and Attorney-Client Privilege: Legal Ethics
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