VULNERABILITY: Law firms could fall foul of the DDA through lack of effort to comply

Law firms are leaving themselves open to discrimination claims from disabled clients because they have not made enough effort to get in line with legislation on the matter - with some even believing that the laws do not affect them.

The concerns emerged last week at a seminar on the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) - hosted by the Law Society and the Employers Forum on Disability (EFD) - that focused on how law firms should make their services more accessible to disabled people.

Larger firms already have a duty not to provide a service which is less favourable, but part 3 of the DDA, which comes into force in October 2004, extends that duty to smaller firms and creates an obligation to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that physical premises are accessible.

However, EFD legal head Bela Gor said many firms were unaware that they even came under the remit of the DDA because they did not identify themselves as service providers.

Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said Chancery Lane was considering ways of getting more guidance out to firms.

'Many solicitors are not sure what to do to make their own premises more accessible or to make their relationships with their disabled clients easier,' she acknowledged.

Speakers said both disability discrimination actions and damages were on the up, although more detrimental was the bad reputation a business could attract if it became subject to a claim.

Firms were more likely to fall foul of the DDA because they did not comply with the spirit of the legislation, rather than neglecting to build ramps; just 5% of disabled people are wheelchair users, while far more have hearing or sight problems.

David Reubain, chairman of the Law Society's mental illness and disability committee, said the courts would not be expecting miracles, especially from smaller firms.

'As long as you are proactive and endeavour to do as much as possible, although no-one can say you've fireproofed yourself, you've at least maximised your protection,' he advised.

Paula Rohan