About NDEAM
The American Bar Association (ABA) actively participates in National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), an annual awareness campaign in October that celebrates the contributions of workers with disabilities. In recognition of the contributions lawyers and judges with disabilities make to the legal profession and to encourage law firms, judiciaries, and other legal employers to make disability diversity and inclusion a priority, the ABA’s Board of Governors recognized October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This year’s NDEAM theme—Access to Good Jobs for All— “speaks to our commitment to expand the number of employment opportunities for people with disabilities and the quality of those opportunities,” Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Taryn M. Williams stated. “Good jobs change lives and all workers — including disabled people — deserve the opportunity to prepare for success in high-quality, good-paying jobs in workplaces free of discrimination.”
In celebration of this month, the ABA’s Commission on Disability Rights (CDR) invites legal employers to join nearly 400 signatories to our Pledge for Change: Disability Diversity in the Workplace—corporations, law firms, law schools, law schools, bar associations, judiciaries, and nonprofit organizations—that have committed to increasing disability diversity throughout the legal profession. The CDR also invites current signatories to share their stories about how they are implementing change, which are featured on our website. Additionally, we invite lawyers with disabilities to participate in #BeCounted: a campaign that empowers them to express their disability pride by anonymously adding themselves to our U.S. map.
Join our 2024 NDEAM Webinar on Oct 28, 3 pm EDT - Disability and Intersectionality: Lawyers Share Their Experience
Many people with disabilities are members of additional marginalized communities, living at the intersection of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and religion. These multiple identities shape their experiences and combine to create intersecting forms of oppression (e.g., ableism, sexism, racism), discrimination, and privilege.
In this webinar, lawyers with disabilities with multiple identities share their experiences in the legal profession, addressing how their multiple identities have shaped their advocacy for justice and equality for all, benefited their lawyer-client relationships, created allyship with lawyers from other marginalized communities, and resulted in unique challenges and barriers in the profession.
Resolution on NDEAM
WHEREAS, the American Bar Association has as one of its four Goals to promote full and equal participation in the Association, our profession, and the justice system by all persons and eliminate bias in the legal profession and the justice system.
WHEREAS, each October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is a national campaign led by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) that raises awareness about disability employment issues and celebrates the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS, RESOLVED, that in recognition of the contributions lawyers and judges with disabilities make to the legal profession and to encourage law firms, judiciaries, and other legal employers to make disability diversity and inclusion a priority, the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association proclaims October the National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).