Lawyers should learn to embrace the possibility of having to accommodate differences that their clients or employees may have, according to panelists at an American Bar Association webinar exploring neurodiversity.
According to Deborah Marcuse, principal attorney at Marcuse Law, the topic of neurodiversity is an invitation to “talk about how our brains work.”
“On a good day I would submit to you that my neurodivergence is my superpower as a lawyer,” Marcuse said. “Both because the way my brain works align well with some of the essential skill sets that our profession requires, and also because the intense depression and anxiety that I sometimes experience help me better understand and assist my clients who are experiencing discrimination and retaliation at work.”
But, Marcuse added, “On a bad day these same skills seem so ill-suited to functioning in this high-stress, deadline-driven, confidence-requiring profession that it seems impossible to go forward.”
During the program, “Accommodating Neurodiversity: A Model for Inclusion in the Legal Profession,” panelists agreed they would like to see the legal profession improve when it comes to accepting people with differing abilities.
Bethel Habte, an associate at Katz Banks Kumin, said law students identify as neurodivergent at a greater rate than practicing attorneys. According to a 2023 Bloomberg analysis, 25% of law students disclosed their neurodivergence, compared to 7% of attorneys.
Habte said younger people are more vocal about what they need to be successful in law school and in the workplace. She added that the legal profession needs to look at areas where it is “inhospitable” to diversity and change it to be more inclusive.
Rebecca Rodgers, lead attorney at the AARP Foundation, said neurodivergence is often, but not always, invisible, and neurodivergent people must make a conscious decision about whether to disclose their identities in the workplace.
Rodgers said disabled employees are more likely to feel content at work if they disclose their disabilities to others. “That means we don’t have to be hiding essential aspects of ourselves at work,” Rodgers said. “But oftentimes we worry about being perceived as lazy or as incompetent if we do disclose our disabilities.”
Even though tremendous progress has been made toward neurodiversity, a great stigma still persists, Rodgers said, “especially in a legal profession where we feel a lot of pressure to be perfect.” She added that not disclosing could make people struggle more if they don’t get the accommodations they need, but “that attorney still needs to be qualified to do the job with or without reasonable accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act.”
Rodgers said some neurodivergent attorneys may not need any accommodation because they could have their own coping mechanisms for the workplace. She said some may request a particular need without disclosing that they have a disability. “Some people are more understanding if I say, ‘There are too many conversations in this room happening at once. I can’t focus, please slow down,’ than if I directly say, ‘I am autistic, and this is what I need.’”
The panelists agreed that the bar application process has room for improvement when it comes to accommodating neurodiversity. The mental health questions on the character and fitness application sometimes cause anxiety for people because the questions are characterized as broad and vague and people are trying to be as truthful as possible, Hatbe said.
Rodgers shared some ways to create a welcoming environment for neurodivergent employees:
- Be mindful of the language used in job descriptions. Focusing on excellent writing skills may weed out people who communicate effectively, but may not have excellent writing skills.
- Avoid using grades as a sole method to determine whether an attorney will be successful.
- Set clear expectations about assignments.
- Normalize talking to employees about work styles.
- Create quiet spaces to work.
- Provide information in both audio and visual formats.
- Record meetings.
- Help employees customize workspaces for optimum focus.
Avoid making assumptions about capabilities of neurodivergent lawyers because “we are all different people but do assume competence,” Rodgers said.
Ting Cheung of the Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight LLP said she would like to see more open and transparent communication between the employer and the employee. “Because at the end of the day, we’re all the same. We’re all human beings,” she said.
The webinar was hosted by the ABA State and Local Government Law Section, the Civil Rights and Social Justice Section and the Commission on Disability Rights.