Disabled solicitors call for rules to make allowances

PROFESSION: disability is 'a difficulty, not a problem'

Changes to the practice rules are needed to take into account the practical difficulties faced by solicitors with disabilities, it was claimed this week.

Amarjit Singh Devgun, newly elected chairman of the Law Society's Group for Solicitors with Disabilities (GSD), said: 'The legal profession is difficult and stressful for able-bodied people, without the physical pain and effects of medication the disabled suffer from.

'At present, the professional rules of conduct make no allowance for disability in terms of the manner in which a disabled solicitor works or dispenses services to a client.

There is need for specific guidance and some professional assistance.'

Mr Devgun, a sole practitioner at east London firm Devgun Spencer, said he also wanted to demonstrate to the legal profession that disability is a 'difficulty and not a problem', and that, if viewed with the right attitude and goodwill, disabled solicitors can make thoroughly effective and profitable contributions.

'There is more to addressing disability than putting a lift here, or a ramp there,' he said.

'There are broader issues.'

Meanwhile, the Disability Rights Commission has launched a review of disability legislation and is to consult on proposed changes to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

The review will consider the definition of disability and indirect discrimination under the new equal treatment directive, and investigate methods of making it easier for the disabled to prove discrimination at employment tribunals, among other issues.

Andrew Towler