Hi, I'm a first year BALLB student from NLSIU. I'm severely visually impaired from one eye and moderately impaired from the other. My disability is visible. Just wanted to know the scene regarding disabled people in law firms. I know that for many this period is too early for me to be thinking about law firms (at least this is what I have been told) but I'm genuinely curious since every single person that I have asked has never given me a definitive answer. Any comment would be appreciated.
There is a person in NALSAR who faced the same issue, Tier 1s rejected them again and again, he has taken an in-house role to my knowledge. Another person with a growth issue however still got the job, it may depend from office to office and team to team. But I'd suggest you give it your all anyway, more power to you!
Just to add to this, you could actually reach out to this person from NALSAR — a simple Linkedin would do. He's not joining any in-house; he accepted an offer from a top-tier disputes-focussed law firm in Bangalore. After his name was unceremoniously removed from multiple shortlists by most Tier 1s, I've heard that the Nalsar alumni network played a good role in ensuring that his achievements (he supposedly has been one of the toppers throughout) and skills got their due weightage in the recruitment process.
So, my suggestion to you is simple: give it your best shot, have tangible achievements, and don't feel shy in reaching out to your alumni network — it's undoubtedly the country's best.
Lastly, in terms of giving you a definite answer to your question: the harsh truth is that most firms & HRs will try their best to reject your candidature on frivolous grounds. That said, everyone has bosses to answer to — and if you can tangibly/quantifiably demonstrate your ability and drive to perform to such senior partners, they'll have no option but to take you. That said, I'd recon that your best shot would be through PPOs with accommodative partners. Most HRs are too lazy to actually go through CVs for internships, so you should apply either directly through the alumni network or through your placement committee. Once that's through, you should give each internship your best shot + keep such partners/senior partners informed of your work, so that they can ensure that you're not unfairly treated. If nothing else, you'll be able to collate a set of powerful references and reputation, which should eventually lead to a job soon enough. All the best!
sorry, my knowledge was short on this end. He has taken a disputes role. But either way, a great mentor and extremely extremely helpful! NALSAR alumni actually helps a lot in such regards.
There is a person from NLS'23 who is blind and is working in a top law firm. So, yes, it's possible. Focus on your academics and internships and things will fall in place. Dw
If you are looking at foreign law firms for a TC at some point, I know somebody that's at Clifford Chance who has a visual impairment (the individual was educated in England itself though, but that shouldn't make too much of a difference TBH). A grad rec guy from Freshfields who came to my uni to deliver a talk about a year ago told me about somebody there as well who is blind. As a fellow blind law student, just putting this out there so you don't make the mistake of assuming that some career options/opportunities that your sighted counterparts aspire for are out of reach for you just because of your blindness.
if you are disabled, won't you find it problematic to do the kind of document work in law firms? Law firms dont have special systems for the impaired and especially clients arent willing to accommodate the same in costs as well.
Might as well prepare for the judiciary or IAS? (hint hint PWD)
Pls dont take this the wrong way, its just a suggestion/ comment jk
"if [sic] you are disabled, won't you find it problematic to do the kind of document work in law firms? Law firms dont [sic] have special systems for the impaired and especially clients arent [sic] willing to accommodate the same in costs as well.
"Might as well prepare for the judiciary or IAS? (hint hint PWD)
"Pls dont [sic] take this the wrong way, its just a suggestion/ comment jk"
Lots to unpack here, apologies (especially to mods) for the length of this. Glad that someone marked this comment as "contested", despite the disclaimer. I am a blind person and a law student and find this deeply problematic in many ways.
1. Most obvious: problematic implications re reservations.
2. Accommodation and costs: Most blind people use computers with screen readers (read-aloud/text-to-speech software) that reads out everything to them that's displayed on a screen, including what they type. I myself use one such software package, called Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA). I use this software for everything: from reading the above-quoted comment to typing my response here on LI, and to do everything I need to digitally, whether academic or personal work. Making documents accessible to such software isn't all that difficult. Platforms/software such as SensusAccess, Brickfield Accessibility Toolkit and ilovepdf.com can convert inaccessible (i.e., image-based/scanned) PDFs into accessible formats (typed text). All these software packages are well within the reach of most reasonably performing firms, financially. There are methods to communicate the substance of more visual documents (e.g. maps, patent designs/diagrams etc.) to the blind. These have included (in the U.S., particularly) using paralegals/interns as human readers (I know of someone using these very methods as a blind person for IP work in India). Law firms anyway take on such people, so this isn't too difficult either, is it? Hope that sufficiently addresses your "special systems" point.
3. Further, people in India and beyond have been working at law firms for some considerable time. The first blind person to get the Rhodes scholarship from India worked at a T1 law firm before going to Oxford and has recently returned to law firm life. Others have commented in this forum and this thread about blind lawyers who are/have been doing it in India right now or in the recent past - see above. I myself have commented, in encouraging the OP to think about all opportunities, including TC's in London, about visually impaired people working at some of the world's most competitive firms (specifically, Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer). Therefore, I encourage the person who made the above-quoted comment to please engage in some deep reflection on whether they are, intentionally or not, acting as a gatekeeper to the legal profession.
As mentioned by another comment in this thread, there is a person from NALSAR B/O'24 who has secured placement in an excellent litigation firm despite being discriminated against by so-called 'Tier 1' law firms. I have had my disagreements with him but I can attest that he is extremely sincere, hardworking, and full of motivation. He was recently featured on the NALSAR LAOT Courts and Constitution Conference's Shamnad Basheer Memorial Roundtable on Disability and Law. I highly suggest you watch it, as I think it can offer a lot of positive perspective on your question. Best of luck for everything and more power to you!!
I have only ever seen Shardul Amarchand being a truly inclusive form. They had hired someone with disability not sure if that’s still the case. They also have the best daycare facility ever. Walked the talk much before DE&I was even a thing
Hi, I myself am visually impaired and have been working at a law firm. That being said my disability is not very visible, so I cannot comment on the prejudice a recruiter may have regarding this. However, one of my batchmates works at a T1 law firm who is physically handicapped. Visibility of their condition was not a barrier. Keep your hopes up !!
So, my suggestion to you is simple: give it your best shot, have tangible achievements, and don't feel shy in reaching out to your alumni network — it's undoubtedly the country's best.
Lastly, in terms of giving you a definite answer to your question: the harsh truth is that most firms & HRs will try their best to reject your candidature on frivolous grounds. That said, everyone has bosses to answer to — and if you can tangibly/quantifiably demonstrate your ability and drive to perform to such senior partners, they'll have no option but to take you. That said, I'd recon that your best shot would be through PPOs with accommodative partners. Most HRs are too lazy to actually go through CVs for internships, so you should apply either directly through the alumni network or through your placement committee. Once that's through, you should give each internship your best shot + keep such partners/senior partners informed of your work, so that they can ensure that you're not unfairly treated. If nothing else, you'll be able to collate a set of powerful references and reputation, which should eventually lead to a job soon enough. All the best!
if you are disabled, won't you find it problematic to do the kind of document work in law firms? Law firms dont have special systems for the impaired and especially clients arent willing to accommodate the same in costs as well.
Might as well prepare for the judiciary or IAS? (hint hint PWD)
Pls dont take this the wrong way, its just a suggestion/ comment jk
"if [sic] you are disabled, won't you find it problematic to do the kind of document work in law firms? Law firms dont [sic] have special systems for the impaired and especially clients arent [sic] willing to accommodate the same in costs as well.
"Might as well prepare for the judiciary or IAS? (hint hint PWD)
"Pls dont [sic] take this the wrong way, its just a suggestion/ comment jk"
Lots to unpack here, apologies (especially to mods) for the length of this. Glad that someone marked this comment as "contested", despite the disclaimer. I am a blind person and a law student and find this deeply problematic in many ways.
1. Most obvious: problematic implications re reservations.
2. Accommodation and costs: Most blind people use computers with screen readers (read-aloud/text-to-speech software) that reads out everything to them that's displayed on a screen, including what they type. I myself use one such software package, called Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA). I use this software for everything: from reading the above-quoted comment to typing my response here on LI, and to do everything I need to digitally, whether academic or personal work. Making documents accessible to such software isn't all that difficult. Platforms/software such as SensusAccess, Brickfield Accessibility Toolkit and ilovepdf.com can convert inaccessible (i.e., image-based/scanned) PDFs into accessible formats (typed text). All these software packages are well within the reach of most reasonably performing firms, financially. There are methods to communicate the substance of more visual documents (e.g. maps, patent designs/diagrams etc.) to the blind. These have included (in the U.S., particularly) using paralegals/interns as human readers (I know of someone using these very methods as a blind person for IP work in India). Law firms anyway take on such people, so this isn't too difficult either, is it? Hope that sufficiently addresses your "special systems" point.
3. Further, people in India and beyond have been working at law firms for some considerable time. The first blind person to get the Rhodes scholarship from India worked at a T1 law firm before going to Oxford and has recently returned to law firm life. Others have commented in this forum and this thread about blind lawyers who are/have been doing it in India right now or in the recent past - see above. I myself have commented, in encouraging the OP to think about all opportunities, including TC's in London, about visually impaired people working at some of the world's most competitive firms (specifically, Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer). Therefore, I encourage the person who made the above-quoted comment to please engage in some deep reflection on whether they are, intentionally or not, acting as a gatekeeper to the legal profession.
Starts around the 5:13:00 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7y6uQoY02k