The American Bar Association’s (ABA) pro bono project enjoyed the most volunteer participation ever in 2021, with more than 140 attorneys handling at least 50 legal inquiries last year.

The online program, ABA Free Legal Answers, includes participation from more than 10,000 U.S. lawyers in 45 states, according to information from the trade group. The web-based ask-and-answer service is aimed at helping income-eligible residents get legal assistance from volunteer attorneys.

“For those who cannot afford an attorney and have nowhere else to turn, ABA Free Legal Answers serves as a critical resource,” said ABA President Reginald Turner in a statement. “We are proud of the more than 10,000 volunteer lawyers nationwide who are helping to meet these important legal needs, and particularly pleased about the efforts of our FLA Pro Bono Leaders. We urge other attorneys to step up and assist as well.”

Recently, the ABA recognized the most prolific volunteer attorneys with the publication of its 2021 Pro Bono Leaders list. Texas led the pack with 14 individuals, organizations, schools or law firms answering more than 50 inquiries. Illinois, though, was a close second with 13 such entities qualifying for recognition.

“ABA Free Legal Answers offers a flexible online platform, even in pandemic conditions, to do this important pro bono work from our offices, homes, makeshift workstations at the courthouse and on our own time,” said attorney Brandon A. Robinson. “Participating on the platform with hundreds of North Carolinians has been one of my daily joys during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

From Twitter

Ukraine Advice Project UK @ukraine_advice Mar 11

"IMPORTANT UPDATE Since the project began on Monday 28 February, the response from the profession has been humbling, and somewhat overwhelming. The project has registered over 430 volunteer lawyers to date and given pro bono advice on almost 700 requests."

According to the ABA, the program has helped answer close to 200,000 inquiries and has doubled in volume over the last two years.

Earlier this year, The Association of Pro Bono Counsel put out a report detailing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the pro bono service industry, and highlighted some of the ways to retain best practices moving forward. The report “Positive Change: How the Pandemic Changed Pro Bono and What We Should Keep,” includes analysis from the legal services community, non-profit legal advocates and experts in the field, according to the Counsel. “We hope it will spark thoughtful discussion about how we pro bono volunteers, legal services organizations, bar associations and the courts can continue to expand access to justice for all members of our communities,” reads information from the group.

According to the report, the Counsel recommends legal service providers offer things like virtual clinics, online platforms, in-person meetings when technological resources are unavailable, technological resources for volunteers and e-filing, among other things.

“This final report documents changes to the delivery of pro bono legal services during the pandemic, with the focus primarily on how the adjustments to intake, representation and advocacy impacted clients,” notes the report. “Our hope is that documenting and sharing these experiences and practices will inspire those responsible for delivering pro bono legal services… and those responsible for the systems with which pro bono client communities interact … to consider keeping the changes that benefited client communities, and to continue to develop accessible, client-centered systems that deliver just outcomes.”

Document automation means creating automated templates, using software, for legal documents (such as contracts).

Once the templates are created, users of the software usually answer questionnaires. Once it has this information, the software can instantly generate the contract, and you’re done.

The purpose is to automate the repetitive process of building a document from scratch each time you need a new contract.

In practice, many contracts are extremely similar, with just a few variations. So, for example, once you create an NDA template, the next time you need an NDA, you can generate the template much more quickly using the questionnaire.

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As a lawyer, you might not think of your work as “creative.”

True, on your off time, you might pursue creative endeavors such as writing, cooking, painting, or practicing a musical instrument. But the practice of law requires a rigorously analytic mindset that relies on precise, predictable processes and precedents.

From a professional standpoint, you probably relegate “creativity” to realms like advertising and product design.

But take a closer look at what you do, and you’ll see that you’re often called upon to come up with solutions that aren’t necessarily found in case law and legal textbooks.

During a difficult negotiation you’re handling for a business client, say, or in researching a legal problem that seems to have no obvious precedents, you may have suddenly come upon the solution while reading a book on a different topic, or while mulling over the matter during a long walk.

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There’s no question about it, content marketing is today’s marketing. It’s what everyone in the marketing world is talking about and has been talking about for the last couple of years.

And with good reason: within one broad banner, content marketing encompasses almost every aspect of marketing, client engagement and brand promotion.

It makes sense, then, that content marketing has been touted as the “must have” strategy for businesses, and many have jumped on board the content marketing train.

According to Hubspot, content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional marketing but costs 62% less. Furthermore, companies that publish at least 16 blog posts per month average 3.5 times more traffic than those that post four or fewer.

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General Electric's general counsel's 2012 compensation package afforded him almost $11 million in cash, making him the highest paid general counsel on Corporate Counsel magazine's latest list of the nation's 100 highest paid GCs. So reports Law.com.

At $1,853,671, the average take-home pay enjoyed by the lawyers on the list this year is the highest it has ever been.

Read the full article from Law.com here.

After entering a guilty plea, John Farahi, founder of Newpoint Financial Services Inc., was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on March 20, according to a National Law Journal story. The Beverly Hills businessman admitted his role in a $20 million Ponzi scheme and the plea could have ramifications for former Nixon Peabody securities partner David Tamman, who was found guilty for his role in the scheme.

Tamman’s lawyer, though, insists the two instances are different and “suspect the judge will listen to what we have to say and make a decision accordingly."

Read the full article from the National Law Journal here.

A Los Angeles nutrition company is locked in a legal battle with billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has accused the company of perpetuating a pyramid scheme. Herbalife officials said the company will up their legal defense costs from $25 million to $40 million in the wake of Ackman’s accusations, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

Ackman, who reportedly bet $1 billion the company is a sham, has said most of the company’s sales people lose money and expects the company’s shares to fall to zero.

Read the full article from the Los Angeles Times here.

Food and Drug Administration logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When attorney F. Lee Bailey was indicted for mail fraud in 1973, he quoted a popular aphorism referencing the difference between how England and the U.S. treat their criminal defense lawyers.  “In England they are apt to be knighted; in the United States they are apt to be indicted.”  There is quite a bit of truth in the saying and the dangers inherent in practicing law in the U.S. are not only faced by defense lawyers.  Sensing an opportunity, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently set its sights on corporate in-house counsel.

In November, 2010, Lauren Stevens, a former vice president and general counsel for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, was indicted on federal charges of making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation.  Stevens was accused of making false and misleading statements in a series of letters to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on behalf of her employer.  Despite it having been obvious from the beginning that Stevens was only relaying information furnished by her client and had no intent or motive to mislead federal investigators, she was enthusiastically pursued by the DOJ.  “Where facts and law allow, the Justice Department will pursue individuals responsible for illegal conduct just as vigorously as we pursue corporations,” Tony West, assistant attorney general for the civil division, said in a statement.  It should be noted that despite the DOJ’s stated commitment to pursue corporations, GlaxoSmithKline’s name was noticeably absent from the Stevens indictment.  West continued, “Criminal charges are appropriate when false statements such as those alleged here are made to the FDA.”

Read the full article here...

A new task force set to examine the intersection between law, technology and artificial intelligence (AI) will include several former high-ranking government officials and legal experts including ex-secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Stanford Law School professor Daniel Ho.

The new American Bar Association (ABA) initiative entitled the Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence, was formally unveiled on Monday, August 28. In addition to Chertoff and Ho, who is also a member of the National AI Advisory Committee and associate director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, the task force will also include:

• Michelle Lee, former director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property
• Miriam Vogel, who also sits on the National AI Advisory Committee
• Seth Waxman, a former U.S. solicitor general.

“The work of the ABA AI Task Force is critical to identifying solutions to AI risks–from countering the creation and spread of disinformation, to protecting privacy in AI development, to guarding against security threats from use of AI in informational warfare,” Chertoff said.

The AI Task Force will be chaired by attorney and cybersecurity engineer Lucy L. Thomson, who was also a founding member of the ABA Cybersecurity Legal Task Force. Additionally, Laura Possessky, Cynthia Cwik and James Sandman will serve as its vice chairs, according to the ABA announcement.

From X (formerly Twitter)

Dr. Vinícius Almada Mozetič @_Mozetic

"I’m honored to share that I’ll be one of the speakers at the X International Seminar on Law, Technology, and Innovation, discussing the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and the Right to Health. Grateful to Prof. Dr. Ingo Wolfgang Sarlet and the organizing committee for this opportunity. Excited to engage in meaningful conversations at PUCRS from November 20-22, 2023."

The role of AI in the legal space has been a hot-button topic in the U.S., especially over the last three years, and the task force comes during a time of rapid development and intense research in the space. As such, the US. Department of State has also taken a noteworthy role in the development of policies aimed at safely and effectively leveraging the technology.

“A global technology revolution is now underway. The world’s leading powers are racing to develop and deploy new technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing that could shape everything about our lives–from where we get energy, to how we do our jobs, to how wars are fought,” said Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. “We want America to maintain our scientific and technological edge, because it’s critical to us thriving in the 21st century economy.”

One way the Department of State seeks to achieve this goal is through guidance provided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development AI Policy Observatory. In 2019, notes the department, the U.S. adopted a set of “intergovernmental principles” aimed at responsible AI development.

Along those lines, the new ABA task force is set to study:

• AI legal practices and their ethical implications
• Risks related to bias, privacy, cybersecurity and the spread of disinformation
• Generative AI
• Access to justice through the utilization of AI
• AI’s role in governance
• AI’s role in the legal education space

“At a time when both private and public sector organizations are moving rapidly to develop and use artificial intelligence, we are called again to lead to address both the promise and the peril of emerging technologies,” said ABA President Mary Smith.

The practical applications of advanced artificial intelligences (AI) are virtually endless, and educators, scholars, lawmakers and even theists are facing an expansive list of questions and concerns around the ethics and legalities of its wide scale implementation.

In recent weeks, there have been a number of high-profile examples of how OpenAI’s nascent chatbot, the Generative Pre-Trained Transformer known as ChatGPT, may push the boundaries of nearly every established element of the legal space. In addition to taking and passing a law exam, the technology’s applications span everything from e-discovery to trial law and more and are being thoroughly examined by public and private pundits from every corner of the legal industry. In Massachusetts, state Sen. Barry Finegold cleverly introduced legislation to govern the impressive technology drafted by the tech itself.

From Twitter

Barry Finegold @Barry_Finegold· Jan 26

"Thanks for the assist, @OpenAI! For the full text of my legislation (An Act drafted with the help of ChatGPT to regulate generative artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT), please visit: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/SD1827…. #mapoli #ChatGPT 1/7 https://twitter.com/i/status/1618742425232740352"

As is often the case, legislative frameworks are forced to adapt to rapidly changing technologies. Now, it seems this process may need to be accelerated as AI is already aggressively being integrated into the status quo. Another example of this is the recent announcement from Ironclad, a digital contracting platform, that it will be using OpenAI technology to complement its existing services.

“There has been a ‘race for novelty’ in our industry, but Ironclad has always prioritized investing in technology that drives impact and real business results for our customers. After testing GPT3 within Ironclad for several months, it’s clear that this is much more than novelty; it’s a groundbreaking innovation,” according to the platform. “In that spirit, we have been working with OpenAI to put the power of GPT3 to work across our product.”

According to the announcement, that product, which will be called “AI Assist,” is in beta testing. “… AI Assist lets users instantly generate redlines to an entire document. Those redlines–made using generative AI–appear as tracked changes, which allow human users to quickly scan and accept, or reject, those redlines in just a single click,” according to the product description.

The White House also weighed in on the subject with its recent release of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Task Force report.

The report represents the federal government’s efforts to create a roadmap for how to address the many pressing issues related to artificial intelligence and develop a way to ensure adequate access to the necessary resources needed by those working on its research and development. “AI advances hold tremendous promise for tackling our hardest problems and achieving our greatest aspirations,” said Arati Prabhakar, the policy director for the Office of Science and Technology. “We will only realize this potential when many more kinds of researchers have access to the powerful capabilities that underpin AI advances.”

According to the White House, the NAIRR Task Force was established in the National AI Initiative Act of 2020 and is co-chaired by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science Foundation. It features representation from private entities, academia and the public sector. “OSTP’s work on AI, including the development of an updated National AI R&D Strategic Plan and the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, is intended to maximize its benefits, while ensuring that AI-driven systems do not harm Americans’ rights or freedoms,” said Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Alexander Macgillivray.

Read the AI Bill of Rights here. 

The American Bar Association has begun the piecemeal release of its ABA TechReport 2021, which takes a comprehensive look into how lawyers use technology in their everyday practices.

The first segment of the report was released on Wednesday, Nov. 10. In total, the publication will provide observation, analysis and predictions on a number of topics from leaders in the legal tech space, according to the trade association.

The report will be separated into eight different segments with the first portion of the report focusing on cloud computing. One area of particular note is with respect to data protection while engaging with the cloud.

“The 2021 Survey highlights a major concern that, while lawyers talk the talk about security concerns in cloud computing, to a shocking degree they do not walk the walk,” reads the report. “The poor results in the cybersecurity category should be a major concern for the legal profession. If you take only one thing from this TechReport to add to your 2021 technology agenda, it should be to up your game on cloud security, for your sake and, even more so, for the sake of your clients.” 

From Twitter

Digital Legal Lab @SectorplanDLS Nov 6

"There’s still time to submit your abstract for Digital Legal Talks 2021! We welcome published & unpublished work on law & digital technologies from interdisciplinary perspectives. More info & get involved here https://sectorplandls.nl/wordpress/digital-legal-talks-2021/"

Among some of the other topics covered in the report, which was compiled by the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, include the impact of COVID-19, budget allocations and employee wellness.

For example, according to information in the survey, 26% of respondents reported a decrease in access to print materials as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This decrease was most obvious in firms of 100 or more, as 44% of attorneys in those firms reported a decline in access to print materials. Only 4% of those asked reported an increase in access to print materials, notes the tech resource center.

Further, the report also indicates law firms have increased their attentiveness to technology, and as such are budgeting for it at a higher clip than ever. The report points out 65% of firms are now setting aside funding for technology, while that number was only 62% in 2020, 60% the year before and even lower in 2018. As has been the case traditionally, larger firms tend to be more inclined to budget for technological changes than smaller ones.

According to analysis from technology consulting and research firm Gartner, in-house legal departments have been hesitant to shift toward new technological paradigms like automation, but COVID-19 might have accelerated the need to adopt such changes.

“The new pressures brought about by the coronavirus pandemic certainly have acted as a catalyst for this shift,” said Zack Hutto, a director at Gartner. “Legal and compliance teams have rarely been frontrunners to modernize, digitalize and automate. The pandemic has flattened staffing budgets and increased legal workloads; technology is the most obvious solution for many legal departments.”

From Twitter

MarkUpgrade @markupgrade
"With the pandemic legal companies are seeking more innovation to enhance efficiency and decrease costs, hence turning to technology. Check out the #naming choices of the top players in the #legaltech sector
https://t.co/Xg4fEzAPWL?amp=1"

According to information from the ABA, the remaining segments of the report will be posted on Wednesdays through Dec. 29. The other topics are as follows:

• “Websites & Marketing”
• “Practice Management”
• “Budgeting & Planning”
• “Technology Training”
• “Solo & Small Firm”
• “Cybersecurity”
• “Life & Practice”

There’s no better time than now to sit down and plan for success. Law firms like yours need actionable steps and clear attainable business goals to achieve success and facilitate the growth of your business. 

Download FindLaw’s 2022 Law Firm Business planner today, in digital format.

House Republicans have laid the groundwork for an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, and in the coming weeks, a flurry of legal volleying is expected to consume the capital. While both sides of the political aisle have come out with strong reactions to the proceedings and how they should be executed, the legal foundation of the inquiry is, in fact, prescribed in the Constitution.

“By design, impeachment is a complex series of steps and procedures undertaken by the legislature. The process roughly resembles a grand jury inquest, conducted by the House, followed by a full-blown trial, conducted by the Senate with the Chief Justice presiding,” according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.

The most recent iteration of this process, explains House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, comes after what he says are “serious and credible” corruption allegations levied against Biden. Among the accusations are lying about business dealings between Biden’s family and foreign actors, including those with a Ukrainian energy company named Burisma, alleged improper payments directed to Biden family members through “shell companies” and bribery.

“These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption, and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives,” McCarthy says. “That’s why … I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public.”

From X (formerly Twitter)

The Recount @therecount ·Sep 13

"Rep. Goldman (D-NY) slams Rep. Mace (R-SC) for her accusations of Pres. Biden in support of an impeachment inquiry: “She says we should trust the evidence itself…I agree, because the evidence itself shows absolutely no connection between Joe Biden and any of those allegations. https://twitter.com/i/status/1702034251300962386"

The proceedings will be led by Rep. James Comer, chairman of the Committee on Oversight, Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Rep. Jason Smith, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. According to the Legal Information Institute, the House Judiciary Committee is next to act, and it will decide whether or not to initiate a formal impeachment inquiry. In order to do so, it will need to adopt a resolution asking the full House to move forward. After debate, the House will need a majority vote to continue.

Following that vote, the Judiciary Committee will conduct its own inquiry, which might include public hearings. At the conclusion of that committee’s inquiry, articles of impeachment will be prepared; each will need to be passed individually. At that point, the President will be considered “impeached,” and a Senate trial may begin, explains the legal resource.

In that case, the Senate then takes on the role of a jury while the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides. Once the trial is concluded, the Senate will vote on whether to remove the President. In order to do so, two-thirds of those present must vote to remove, and in that case, the Vice President would then, naturally, assume the role of President.

From X (formerly Twitter)

Rep. Jim McGovern @RepMcGovern ·Sep 12

"Everything you need to know about impeachment: McCarthy wants to impeach Joe Biden because he doesn’t like him & needs to put down a far right rebellion. But won’t expel George Santos who lied about his whole life & is charged w/ fraud, money laundering and more. What a joke."

“I don’t make this decision lightly. And Regardless of your party or who you may have voted for, these facts should concern all Americans,” McCarthy says. “The American people deserve to know that public offices are not for sale – and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically-associated family.”

Biden has not said much about the proceedings, but he was quoted in media outlets rebuking them as a political distraction. “The best I can tell, they want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government,” said Biden, as reported by NBC’s Today.

New data included in a study published by The Journal of Law and Education indicates Campbell University provided the best value to its students with respect to passing the bar during the period spanning from 2017 to 2019.

The study, which was published in the latest issue of the University of South Carolina’s student-run journal, was penned by Jeffrey S. Kinsler and evaluates which law schools helped students achieve above-expected bar passage results compared to baseline undergraduate grade point averages (UGPA) and LSAT scores.

Essentially, notes the 'Ultimate Bar Passage Rates: Which Law Schools Are Overperforming and Underperforming Expectations' study, individuals with higher undergraduate grade point averages and LSAT scores have better bar passage rates than those with lower scores.

“As a result, a predicted bar passage rate may be calculated for each law school based upon its UGPA and LSAT scores. Once a predicted bar passage rate is calculated, it is possible to determine which law schools are overperforming or underperforming in terms of preparing their students to pass the bar exam,” reads the study.

From 2017 to 2019, Campbell University provided the most value added for students with respect to their ultimate bar passage rate, with Liberty University, Lincoln Memorial University, Belmont University and Samford University coming in right behind it. Additional subsets of earlier bar results data were also included in the study as well as data pertaining to the value added specifically for first-time test takers from their respective schools.

From X (formerly known as Twitter)

OJ Salinas @ojsalinas ·Aug 31

".@unc_law had a 92.31% passage rate for first time takers on the July 2023 NC bar exam! That's 1st among all NC law schools! Congrats to those who passed! If you received disappointing results, your score doesn't define you. Reach out when you're ready. We'll get it next time."

“Law school graduates who fail to pass a bar exam end up in worse financial shape than those who decide not to pursue a legal education. It is only fair, therefore, that prospective law students be aware of their chances of passing a bar exam before choosing a law school,” reads Kinsler’s analysis. “Approximately 10% of law school graduates never pass a bar exam. The failure rate is even higher for African-American and Hispanic graduates.”

Per Kinsler, the study deployed a linear regression model to substantiate three main hypotheses. First, it confirms the median LSAT and UGPA’s are, in fact, predictive of a school’s bar passage rate. Additionally, it also indicates these metrics can be used to identify schools that provide value to students taking the bar for the first time or in subsequent sittings, and lastly, there are certain schools have been able to help students consistently outperform their test results for both first-time test takers and those taking the exam more than once.

Overall, Belmont, Campbell, and Liberty stand out as scoring particularly well across the board, according to the data provided.

It is fair to say that these three law schools are adding the most bar passage value to their students,” Kinsler writes.

Newly minted American Bar Association (ABA) President Mary L. Smith is setting her sights on democracy and artificial intelligence as she takes the gavel from Deborah Enix-Ross, the trade group’s immediate past president.

Smith, who will be the first Native American female president of the ABA, serves as the vice chair for the VENG Group and comes with a lengthy resume that includes healthcare executive and high-level government counselor.

“The American Bar Association and the legal profession have always lifted their voices to lead and chart the future,” Smith said. “Our country is at an inflection point, and we are called again to lead to address threats to democracy and both the promise and peril of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Law touches all aspects of society, and I hope that the ABA can welcome in all lawyers, as well as non-lawyers, who are invested in improving the profession, serving the public and protecting the rule of law.”

At her day job, Smith advises clients in a diverse array of subject areas including business development, communications, healthcare and corporate governance, according to  her VENG Group bio. Per the public relations firm, Smith is also an independent board member and the former CEO of Indian Health Service, a $6 billion organization. She was also appointed by the court as a trustee of the Tribal Abatement Fund Trust, which was created to address the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Smith earned her law degree from the University of Chicago School of Law and holds a degree in computer science and mathematics from Loyola University Chicago. Additionally, she served as a clerk in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals for judge R. Lanier Anderson III, according to the ABA.

From Twitter

Legal Innovators @LegalInnovators ·Aug 11

"Congratulations to Mary Smith on her historic role as the first female Native American President of the @ABAesq! It is wonderful to see glass ceilings shattered & new heights of representation at the highest rungs of the legal profession. Read more:https://www.law.com/2023/08/11/mary-smith-becomes-first-native-american-female-president-of-aba/?slreturn=20230716114341"

After officially taking the reins at the conclusion of the Tuesday, Aug. 8 ABA Annual Meeting that took place in Denver, Smith made her priorities clear with the creation of the ABA Task Force for American Democracy, which will “consider and propose solutions for educating our citizens on the importance of an inclusive, strong and enduring democracy and help to provide bulwarks to bolster our democracy as conceived” as well as the formation of an artificial intelligence task force.

As such, Smith challenged her fellow law professionals “to harness both the promise—and the peril—of AI,” as she called on the new task force to “take a comprehensive look at the use of AI and make recommendations on the impact on the practice of law, access to justice and laws and regulations.”

Additionally, the ABA announced William R. Bay of Thompson Coburn in St. Louis will serve as the trade group’s president-elect and will take the position in August 2024. Meanwhile, Frank H. “Fritz” Langrock was named treasurer and Marvin S.C. Dang was named secretary.

“In every ‘Star Trek’ episode, viewers are reminded right at the beginning of a simple statement of their mission … Our mission must be to make our association the home for all lawyers,” Bay said. “The American Bar Association serves a unique role, a national unifying role, a place where every lawyer can find a home, value, worth and fulfillment.”

Lawmakers and legal pros from around the nation used the 33rd anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to highlight its importance to the disability community and discuss new ways it can continue to protect them.

Among those recognizing the milestone, which was formally celebrated on Saturday, July 26, was President Joe Biden, who announced new digital accessibility standards to accompany the celebration.

“For more than three decades, the Americans with Disabilities Act has been a driving force in moving America closer to the promise of equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for the 61 million individuals with disabilities in our country,” according to the White House announcement. “Because of the ADA and its protections against discrimination in public accommodations, employment, transportation, and community living, millions of people with disabilities have grown up with the promise of the same rights and chances as their peers without disabilities—and our communities, our economy, and our country are all stronger as a result.”

According to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the ADA represents federal civil rights protections for those with disabilities much like other civil rights legislation prohibits discrimination against individuals based on race, sex, religion, color and national origin.

In order to bolster these protections, Biden announced a new initiative spearheaded by the Department of Justice to bolster accessibility standards for mobile and web app-based services.

The rule, per the White House announcement, will suggest “clear technical standards, like including text descriptions of images so people using screen readers can understand the content, providing captions on videos, and enabling navigation through use of a keyboard instead of a mouse for those with limited use of their hands.”

From Twitter

Rep. Dan Goldman @RepDanGoldman ·Jul 26

"July marks 33 years of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, which ensured that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as every American. As we near the end of Disability Pride Month, let’s recommit to supporting people with disabilities."

The ADA was passed in 1990 by former President George H.W. Bush. Per the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 12.7% of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population was diagnosed with a disability in the five-year period between 2016 and 2020.

Per the White House, the impetus for the new online regulations comes as a result of many in the disability community still having trouble accessing important services like filing taxes, registering to vote, accessing vital records, applying for social services and taking courses online.

“This lack of accessibility has led unequal access to critical services for millions of Americans. As most services turned online during the pandemic, access disparities worsened. Deaf and hard of hearing people could not understand video messages from governors and mayors due to lack of captioning and American Sign Language interpretation,” notes the White House. “Community college students with certain disabilities, such as manual dexterity disabilities, could not properly navigate online course content.”

From Twitter

OneFLA Diversity Council @Stand_OneFLA ·Jul 26

"Celebrating National Disability Independence Day! Today marks the anniversary of the American’s with Disabilities Act, empowering individuals with disabilities for 33 years. Let’s continue to raise awareness, promote accessibility and champion inclusivity for all. #OneFLA"

In addition to addressing accessibility, the Department of Justice also highlighted another initiative aimed at “Addressing the Criminalization of People with Disabilities.” The program seeks to mitigate “needless criminal justice involvement” for individuals with substance-use and mental-health disabilities by calling attention to the need for community-based services to address those issues.

“To fully realize the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we must confront issues that lie at the intersection of disability rights, criminal justice and racial justice. Simply put, people with disabilities should receive the services they need rather than being treated as criminals,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke.