Legally Blind and Successful Lawyers

A recent ABA profile on Ed Marquette, a blind lawyer with a tech-focused practice, was featured as part of the #MyPathToLaw campaign.

In the ABA profile, Marquette discusses how his interest in law came secondary to his in passion for politics. But before he lost his sight, he was interested in becoming a nuclear physicist, which curiously, is incredibly difficult due to the lack of accessibility and accessible mathematics language. But as his passion for politics waned, his interest in the law stayed, which led him back to science and his current intellectual property and tech-focused practice.

And while Ed Marquette’s story is inspirational, he’s not the only successful blind lawyer out there. Below you can read about a few more.

In House and In Government

Recent profiles have also been done on Google in house counsel Jack Chen and a Louisiana county attorney Tracey Frazier.

The profile on Jack Chen goes pretty deep, and even discusses the technology he utilizes to get through his days. And seeing how he does it, one thing is obviously clear, simply getting to and from work in Google NYC office looks much more challenging than anything the work might ask him to do.

Tracey Frazier, after becoming blind, was told she could not get through law school, because even sighted people couldn’t and that no one would hire a blind lawyer. And while the college dean that told her was only right about the fact that sighted people don’t make it through law school, after years of working on the outskirts of lawyers, at 37 years old, she went back to law school, graduated, and now works as a county attorney.

Blind and Deaf Attorney Disability Rights Advocate

Stories about attorneys with disabilities succeeding are important to highlight, particularly for potential law students who might have a disability.

Haben Girma was recently profiled by POPSUGAR, as she has been the subject of national attention, and met President Obama after graduating from Harvard Law. Notably, she is both deaf and blind, but that doesn’t deter her from being a passionate advocate for disability rights.

Related Resources:

• Loyola Law's Push for More Disabled Lawyer Leadership (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Handling Learning Disabilities in Law School (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Don't Let a Disability Crush Your Legal Career Goals (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)