Model Rules Changes Aim to Help Avoid Ableism When Representing Clients with Disabilities
Newsletter/Publication
ABA Journal
External Links
https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/model-rules-changes-aim-to-help-avoid-ableism-when-representing-clients-with-disabilities, archived at https://perma.cc/95F2-V47G
Repository Citation
Anna Stolley Persky, Shannon Cogan, Robert Dinerstein, Sari Montgomery, Nina A. Kohn & John Craft,
Model Rules Changes Aim to Help Avoid Ableism When Representing Clients with Disabilities,
ABA Journal
(2026).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/fac_works_pubs/28
Comments
Quote: The changes shift the focus toward helping lawyers find ways to work with their clients in the decision-making process and away from inadvertently encouraging more restrictive moves, such as formal proceedings for guardianship or conservatorship, says Robert Dinerstein, a former chair of the ABA Commission on Disability Rights and professor emeritus at American University Washington College of Law. . . Also, the rule change replaces the term “client with diminished capacity” with “client with decision-making limitations.” The old language was “ableist,” Dinerstein says. “Now we have a greater awareness about the broad range of abilities clients bring in when they come to the table. We hope [the revised rule] will provide more guidance to lawyers trying to do right by their clients.”