lawyer’s office environment. Visiting clients in their homes will afford them with the
accommodation they need. However, some clients with disabilities prefer the confidential
setting of the lawyer's office for a meeting. Some people with disabilities live in places
that do not afford complete privacy, such as group homes, hospitals and supportive
housing. Meeting in their place of residence may raise suspicions of other residents,
family members or staff and unintentionally divulge confidences.
As has been indicated, there is no one formula for providing accommodation. Lawyers
are advised to ensure that their offices are barrier-free and to ask clients what
accommodations, if any, are needed. Lawyers are further advised to educate themselves
with respect to specific disabilities and common accommodations associated with such
disabilities. Lawyers can do this, for example, by accessing information provided by
organizations that provide services for people with particular disabilities. Lawyers can
also learn by visiting the websites of disability organizations and government agencies,
some addresses for which are listed in the section below titled “Web Resources”,.
What follows is a brief description of some accommodation issues and measures that
pertain to some generally-classed disabilities. The information is provided to illustrate
generally what accommodation can entail in some, selected, circumstances.