Juris Doctorates & the Deaf

2009-06-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Sean Lodholz
EDS 152-01 M-TH 9AM
ASL Research Blog
June 14th 2009

Of all the fields’ one might assume to be inaccessible to the deaf the practice of law must rank quite high. To practice law, after all, requires an excellent understanding of the English language, and a premium is placed on the ability to effectively communicate. However, even granting these points as sound, if one were to make the assumption previously stated, they would be proven wrong by an ever increasing number of deaf attorneys.

At current there are an estimated 176 deaf or hard of hearing law students and lawyers,[1] as well as 3 seated deaf justices.[2] The success of these individuals can be attributed firstly to a sharp intellect and impressive determination, but secondly to several significant changes in law and technology in the last 20 years. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 made the accommodations of individuals with disabilities required by law; for deaf students this meant access to interpreters and tools which aided those with aspirations of a higher education.[3] In addition the advent of technologies like real time speech to text translators like CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation)[2], cochlear implants, captioning, and an ever increasing reliance on e-mail and other forms of purely text communication[4] have continued to alter the way in which those form the deaf world interact with the hearing. Naturally such changes have lead to a significant increase in deaf students in all fields of study, including that of law, which in turn is leading to an, as of yet small, but ever increasing population of deaf professionals in the legal field.

Unfortunately, though the ADA and technologies have significantly bridged the communication gap between the deaf and the hearing, allowing the deaf to attend law school and practice as trial lawyers and judges, those deaf individuals whom choose to do so still face significant challenges, not because of an inability to hear, but because of prejudice from the hearing. A deaf law student laments…

“I experience discrimination in varying modes every single day. The clerk who looks at me funny because I didn’t hear something he or she said is discriminatory. The professor who never calls on me because he or she “doesn’t want to deal with it” is discriminatory. The law student who doubts that I can ever succeed at a job as tough as a lawyer is discriminatory. An employer who doubts that I can do the job just because I am Deaf is discriminatory.”[3]

…and a sitting deaf justice on Wisconsin’s Second District Court of Appeals Judge Richard Brown, sites a troubling misconception of many legal employers whom believe

"deaf people can't communicate and, therefore, can't reason as well." [2]

Of course deafness has no impact or link to ones ability to think critically and reason logically, and it is likely that as the pool of deaf individuals in the legal profession continues to expand misconceptions such as those sited by Judge Brown, and the discriminatory practices as described by the young deaf law student, will gradually disappear.

By way of laws that require equal access to all peoples, as well as new technologies, the deaf seem to be making strides and succeeding in the legal world, something that must of at one time seemed impossible. There are within the deaf community controversies over some of the technologies used to facilitate this new trend, particularly cochlear implants, but the growing number of deaf professionals in the legal world is an overwhelmingly positive thing for the deaf community in sum as it allows deaf individuals greater access to attorneys whom understand deafness and deaf people. In addition the rise of the deaf legal professionals is also beneficial to the hearing, as had they not been granted access to such a career the world would likely be deprived of several exceptional and sharp legal minds. Given these things, as technology improves, and more and more young deaf individuals enter law school, we are likely to see many more deaf professionals in the legal world; a trend beneficial to the hearing and the deaf alike.

[1] deafattorneys.com

[2] Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons

[3] Anonymous Deaf Law Student

[4] Dahl

Work Cited:

Anonymous Deaf Law Student. “The Rise of the Modern Deaf Lawyer.” March 24th, 2008; “The Future Deaf Lawyers.” April 7th, 2008, http://deaflaw.wordpress.com

Dahl, Dick. “Deaf attorneys discuss practicing law without sound.” April 7th, 2008, http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/legal-services-lawyers/8956603-1.html

Deafattorneys.com. “Juris Doctorates & the Deaf." August 4th, 2008, http://www.deafattorneys.com/WP/? http://www.deafattorneys.com/WP/?p=113,

Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons. “Deaf Lawyers Slowly Moving Into the Mainstream.” Copyright 2000,

Updated: June 12th 2009, http://www.hearinglossweb.com/Issues/Employment/lawyer.htm

http://www.lifeprint.com/