NDLSA held two virtual events this month. Both were a great success! 

On August 5th, NDLSA co-hosted “Being Neurodiverse in Law school” with the Autism Success Foundation. Attorneys and presenters Hallie Hovey-Murray (William & Mary School of Law ’19) and Haley Moss (University of Miami School of Law ’18) along with LLM Candidate AJ Link (NDLSA Co-President; George Washington School of Law ’20) discussed the experiences of autistic students in the law school environment. Presenters also suggested actions neurodivergent students can take to navigate 1L year, internships, and the bar exam.  

Afterward, when preparing the recording of the event, we learned the hard way about how Zoom recordings can fail.

On August 7th, we co-hosted an event with the American Bar Association on how pre-COVID systemic ableism has affected the transition to virtual learning required by the COVID pandemic. The event featured panelists Ellie Cowan (NDLSA; University of Idaho College of Law ’22), Jeremy Wertz (NDLSA Co-President; Harvard Law ’20), and Maria Zavaleta (University of San Francisco School of Law ’21) with AJ Link serving as the moderator. ‘This event was an excellent experience for us in sharing how institutional barriers affect us as disabled students. You can access a full, successful recording here.

On September 9th, Co-President Jeremy Wertz will present “The ADA at Work in Legal Education,” an event hosted by the Michigan ADA 30. You can sign up for this event here.

Later in September, we will be introducing a new interview series called “Been There, Done That,” which will showcase the knowledge and advice with experienced disability advocates. The Q and A portion of this event will only be open to NDLSA members! Membership is currently free, and you can sign up here. 

On October 16th-17th, we will co-host an event on LGBTQ+ and Disabled intersectionality with OUTlaw from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin. We’ll discuss how being LGBTQ+ and Disabled affects the experiences of law students and new lawyers. The panelists will also address how to overcome intersectional barriers. Stay tuned for registration information!

NDLSA is open to collaboration with individual law school student organizations. Let us know how we can support your events. 

Grace Burnham 

Director of Outreach and Advocacy