Advocating for People With Disabilities

We work to secure the rights of people with disabilities in classrooms, workplaces, and public spaces through litigation, individual representation, legal research, and transactional support for a wide variety of nonprofits that share our commitment. This work attracts broad participation from colleagues across the firm, including members of Latham’s Disability and Neurodiversity Network, and involves non-legal volunteer initiatives to complement our pro bono efforts.

"People with intellectual, developmental, and physical challenges are often disproportionally deprived of fundamental rights and respect. At Latham, we are proud to advocate on behalf of these individuals and the organizations who serve them."

Iván Rabanillo, Partner, Madrid

Such meaningful partnerships make it possible to serve clients with disabilities, neurodiversity, and mental illness on every continent where we operated last year. Representative engagements included our work for:

• ASD Silvia Tremolada (ASD): an Italian nonprofit that uses athletics to help children with physical and intellectual disabilities foster a sense of independence. Our lawyers reviewed sport collaboration agreements and corporate formation agreements to make ASD’s work possible.
• Autistica: a UK charity that engages in research focused on autism and related conditions, such as developing a neuroinclusion index for employers and creating a “strengths and needs” assessment toolkit to help neurodivergent people receive personalized support. Latham lawyers prepared template contracts for the organization’s speaking, training, and consultancy engagements.
• Confederación Autismo España: a Spanish nonprofit dedicated to supporting people with autism spectrum disorders and their families. Our lawyers are researching and drafting a comparative study of European country legislation, case law, best practices, and pilot projects on combating school bullying and cyberbullying against minors with disabilities, with the aim of identifying changes that can be incorporated into the Spanish legal system.
• Equip for Equality: the Illinois federally funded protection and advocacy agency responsible for representing children and adults with disabilities throughout the state. Through its Special Education Clinic, our lawyers advise students and their families who are receiving special education services, often following diagnoses of ADHD, diabetes, depression, autism, and social anxiety. We also represent families in individualized education program meetings, ensuring students receive proper evaluation, appropriate placement, and adequate supports to meet their needs.
• Fundación Altas Capacidades: an organization that offers guidance to families in Spain with high-ability children who also have a learning or developmental disability. Lawyers from our Madrid office provided incorporation and tax advice to the organization.
• Jad’s Inclusion: a vocational center that offers specialized services to children with learning difficulties in the Middle East. Our lawyers reviewed the organization’s policies and procedures to ensure that they are in line with best practices and standards.
• Wunderbunt: a nonprofit in Germany that supports families of children with disabilities seeking advice on care insurance, applicable regulations, and support services. We advised the organization on the establishment of a supporting association with nonprofit status, allowing them to improve the management of increased donations.