Reasonable Accommodations for Civil Court Litigants with Significant Intellectual or Cognitive Disabilities: The Exceptional Circumstances Doctrine and other Fairness Rules to Guarantee Due Process in Civil Courts

Many individuals with disabilities are unable to retain legal counsel due to financial hardship for representation or assistance during civil court proceedings. In the United States there is no Constitutional Right to a court appointed attorney for representation during a civil proceeding. Where some individuals might have the ability to represent themselves, or participate pro se in court proceedings, others are denied this opportunity due to a significant intellectual or cognitive disability that prevents meaningful participation. Therefore, are pro se litigants with significant intellectual or cognitive disabilities entitled to a reasonable accommodation in the form of a qualified "intellectual" or "cognitive" interpreter, such as an attorney or social worker, during court proceedings?

Join us for a legal update webinar to review the circumstances where state and federal court judges have appointed counsel for litigants with significant disabilities under the "exceptional circumstances" doctrine and other fundamental fairness rules as a matter of due process. These cases often involve litigants whose disabilities significantly impair their ability to represent themselves and where fundamental fairness necessitates legal representation. This will be a difficult discussion evaluating how these civil court fairness doctrines and laws interact with the ADA to justify accessible due process via the reasonable accommodation and/or effective communication requirement. Time permitting, we will also discuss recommended practices for citing the fairness doctrines and requesting reasonable accommodations in the form of qualified interpreters to facilitate effective communication in civil court proceedings.