Haley Moss, ABA Journal; How to best accommodate neurodiverse lawyers and neurodivergent clients
"Supporting and accommodating neurodivergent clients
Something that always is brought up to me when neurodivergent clients come up are ethical considerations—what to do with interpreters, diminished capacity concerns or competence. But a lot of those concerns are also our own biases showing with regard what we think neurodiversity is (or is not). Instead, as lawyers, it’s up to us to practice a little bit of empathy. People seek out lawyers for all sorts of reasons: Maybe they’re starting a business, or they were fired or getting divorced, or getting sued. There’s already a natural fear or surprise element to that initial interaction for clients, without our judgments based on a person’s cognitive abilities.
To lead with empathy, think about how to make those first interactions less terrifying in order to build trust. There’s a knowledge gap lawyers have about disability culture. Presume competence by treating us like any other client; it’s one of the easiest ways to show respect. It’s frustrating even to me when I get talked down to like a little kid because I’m autistic, and your adult neurodivergent clients probably have had similar experiences. To that effect, something we all can do better is clean up legal jargon and use plain language, explaining concepts in an easy-to-understand format.
I also like trying to meet folks where they are."
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