Career & Practice Guide: Resources for Law Students with Disabilities

This site provides a list of valuable opportunities for law students with disabilities, including writing competitions, scholarships, internships, and fellowships. The Commission’s National Mentor Program provides law students with disabilities, recent law school graduates with disabilities and prospective law students with disabilities insight into the legal profession from experienced attorneys with shared interests or personal experiences.

The DRBA was started by a group of disability counsel, law professors, legal nonprofits and advocacy groups who share a commitment to effective legal representation of individuals with disabilities. This bar association is an online network of attorneys who specialize in disability civil rights law. Through the DRBA, disability rights attorneys share information and strategies, coordinate litigation and other legal representation strategies, and mentor lawyers and law students who are new to disability rights practice.

The National Association of Attorneys with Disabilities, or NAAD, is the national association of attorneys, judges, law professors, law students, and others representing the interests of attorneys, judges, law professors, law students, and others with disabilities in the legal profession so that persons with disabilities of all kinds can achieve success.

NDLSA is a coalition of law students dedicated to disability advocacy and the achievement of equal access, inclusion, diversity and non-discrimination in legal education and the legal profession. NDLSA aims to support law students with disabilities by providing a safe and supportive community to connect with other students with disabilities from across the country, networking with lawyers with disabilities, information about career opportunities, and advice on succeeding in law school and the legal profession. This site provides valuable information, including bar exam resources, disability rights organizations, fellowships and scholarships, information about the NDLSA Annual Conference (free for law students), employment resources and more.

Schedule A is a special (excepted) hiring authority for individuals with disabilities. To prove your eligibility to be appointed to a federal job under Schedule A, you must:
Be qualified for the job for which you are applying (i.e., have the necessary competencies and relevant experience to perform the job).
Provide "proof of a disability" documentation. "Proof of a disability" is a letter stating that you have an intellectual disability, severe physical disability or psychiatric disability. You can get this letter from your doctor, a licensed medical professional, a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any Federal, state, or local agency that issues disability benefits. Many doctors and most of the entities listed above know how to format a Schedule A letter.

Most Federal agencies have a Selective Placement Program Coordinator (SPPC) who helps management recruit, hire and accommodate people with disabilities. Candidates can take a proactive approach in identifying job opportunities by contacting Selective Placement Program Coordinators at federal agencies of interest.

The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) is a recruitment and referral program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor that connects federal sector employers nationwide with highly motivated college students and recent graduates with disabilities (including law students and recent graduates), who are seeking summer or permanent jobs with the federal government. Student registration takes place in late summer/early fall, and interviews are conducted in October and November. Contact the CSO for information on how to participate in this recruitment program.

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is the leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues. Working toward practical solutions that benefit both employer and employee, JAN helps people with disabilities enhance their employability and shows employers how to capitalize on the value and talent that people with disabilities add to the workplace. For additional information and job databases for individuals with disabilities, see Information by Role.

Guide from Resume Builder for people with disabilities.

This site addresses topics including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), job accommodations, employee rights, employers’ responsibilities, laws and regulations governing the rights afforded to people with disabilities, and the enforcement of regulations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Focused on judicial clerkships, “[t]his summer program provides business law clerkship placements for nine qualified diverse first or second year law students. Participating clerks receive support and mentoring in the business law field…” “Applicants must be considered diverse in one of the following ways: law students of color, women, law students with disabilities, LGBT law students, or students who have overcome social or economic disadvantages such as a physical disability, financial constraints, or cultural impediments to becoming a law student.”

This organization “places college students, graduate students, law students, and recent graduates with all types of disabilities in summer internships with Congressional offices, federal agencies, non-profits, and for-profit organizations in the Washington, DC area. Each intern is matched with a mentor who will assist them with their career goals.”

The Emerging Leaders Program, coordinated by the National Business & Disability Council (NBDC) at The Viscardi Center, is aimed at placing talented undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities in “fulfilling internships nationwide that provide them with meaningful leadership development and networking opportunities.” The NBDC site includes a job database as well as a list of the corporate partners participating in the program (e.g., PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Prudential, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, FedEx, General Motors, Hilton Worldwide, JetBlue, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, Aetna, Canon, and Bank of America).

Disability:IN NextGen Leaders are college students and recent graduates (within 2 years) with disabilities, including veterans, who are top talent for corporate America. NextGen Leaders have the opportunity to connect with leading brands across all industries. Leaders are matched one-on-one with mentors from Disability:IN Corporate Partners and experience an all-expense paid trip to the Disability:IN Annual Conference where they network and interview with companies like Boeing, Facebook, JPMorgan Chase, and Microsoft. LGBTQ, Black, and veteran individuals are especially encouraged to apply for the 2021 class.

DVRS connects eligible individuals with disabilities with jobs under the “Schedule A” Authority. Federal HR personnel and recruiters are invited to interview candidates at a scheduled location in New Jersey. Job openings that are available under the “Schedule A” Authority are shared with DVRS by the recruiters, candidates are pre-screened, and live interviews are conducted at the Schedule A Hiring Event. Participating federal agencies and contractors include the U.S. Department of Labor, SSA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI, IRS, USDA, Naval Command, VA, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. To be eligible for this event, individuals must be registered with either DVRS, CBVI or Veterans Administration, and jobs in the legal field have been available.