In February I became president of the Second Life® Bar Association. I am excited about the upcoming year and hope to bring new educational content to our members and create networking opportunities between members and other users of Second Life.
It may surprise you to learn that people who are disabled are most active on Second Life. Those folks who have physical disabilities in real life find that Second Life provides them with opportunities to engage in activities without regard to physical limitation. One of the biggest communities in Second Life is an organization called “Virtual Ability. The folks of Virtual Ability help people with all disabilities learn to navigate in Second Life. They also provide real life support – mental health counseling, assistance with obtaining devices to use computers. and much more I could write a post (and maybe I will) about the wonderful work that the volunteers at Virtual Ability do. For now, I hope you will check out Virtual Ability’s website.
I am proud that the Second Life Bar Association and Virtual Ability will be co-sponsoring a seminar on bias in the legal profession that will focus on attorneys with disabilities. This seminar has been approved for one hour of continuing legal education credit, including the one hour on bias in the legal profession. For those of us in California who need that one hour of credit in that area, we know how hard it is to obtain. Linda Batiste and Beth Loy from the Job Accommodation Network, West Virginia University will be discussing the professional work environment for lawyers with disabilities. They will discuss barriers faced by attorneys with disabilities and what employers need to do in order to accommodate lawyers with disabilities.
Linda Carter Batiste, JD, is a Principal Consultant with the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a free consulting service funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. She has in-depth training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and employment law as well as accommodations related to mobility impairments, emergency evacuation, and substance abuse.
Dr. Beth Loy is a Principal Consultant with the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). She is a national researcher and speaker in the disability field and has a Ph.D. in Resource Economics with a specialization in social policy. At JAN, she provides research, writing, and statistics support regarding accommodation benefits and costs and the economic impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The seminar will take place on March 17, 2010 at 12:00 noon, pacific standard time on Second Life. For more information and to register, please check the website of the Second Life Bar Association or feel free to contact me directly.
