Upcoming Events
Annual Membership Meeting
Join us for the Crip the Law annual meeting. We will provide members with organizational updates and allow candidates for board member positions introduce themselves before elections begin.
CART and ASL will be provided. For additional accommodations, please reach out to info@cripthelaw.org.
While this event will be recorded, recording may be paused during the question and answer portion if necessary to allow honest and open participation.
Registration is free but required: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/WowylV_kQvCcszp0ocZhAw
Town Hall on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Legal Profession
Join Crip the Law on Tuesday, May 19 at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET for a town hall discussion on how attacks on DEIA are affecting disabled law students and legal professionals. Help us brainstorm next steps and advocacy priorities in response to these harmful attacks. We want to hear your experiences and feedback.
ASL and CART will be provided. For additional accommodations, please reach out to info@cripthelaw.org.
This event will not be recorded.
Registration is free but required: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/k1oQiZRqSc-U7iqEY6x7UQ
Past Events
Career Transition Event
On Monday, November 3, 2025, NDLPA hosted an event on navigating career transitions in the age of federal government reductions in force and funding cuts.
Career Exploration Series: Navigating Big Law with a Disability
On September 30, 2025, NDLPA held a Career Exploration Series event on navigating Big Law with a disability.
Moderator:
Michael A. Sabella, Counsel, BakerHostetler
Panelists:
Rose Athena Collins, Litigation and Investigations Associate
Derek Manners, Senior Associate, Dechert LLP’s Financial Services Group
Syed Rizvi, Associate, Vinson & Elkins LLP
Whitley Horning, Associate, WilmerHale
Seeking and Securing Accommodations for the Bar Exam and MPRE
On September 18, 2025, the National Disabled Law Students Assocation, National Disabled Legal Professionals Association, and Brown Goldstein & Levy hosted a webinar on Seeking and Securing Accommodations for the Bar Exam.
Disabled test takers and the experienced attorneys at Brown Goldstein & Levy discussed Bar exam accommodation processes, the rights of disabled test takers, state law examiners’ responsibilities, and tips and suggestions on how to request accommodations and appeal decisions.
Speakers included Erin O’Neill and Neel Lalchandani from Brown Goldstein & Levy, and Tenesha Shaw and Anna Elliott, who spoke about their lived experience as test takers of both the MPRE and Bar Exams in their states.
Career Exploration Series: Navigating In-House Roles with a Disability
On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, NDLPA held the fourth event in its Career Exploration Series on navigating in-house roles with a disability.
Moderator:
Marissa Ditkowsky, Executive Director, National Disabled Legal Professionals Association
Panelists:
Morissa Fregeau, Corporate Counsel, Aflac
Kevin Fritz, Employment Counsel, Gusto
Stuart Pixley, Senior Corporate Counsel, Microsoft
Sudha Rajan, Sr. Director, Accessibility Center of Excellence, Optum
Career Exploration Series: Navigating Legal Academia Jobs with a Disability
On Thursday, April 17, 2025, NDLPA held the third event in its Career Exploration Series on navigating legal academia jobs with a disability.
Moderator:
AJ Link, President, Board of Directors, National Disabled Legal Professionals Association and Adjunct Professor, Space Law, Howard University School of Law
Panelists:
Katie Eyer, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
Professor Katherine Macfarlane, Director, Disability Law & Policy Program, Syracuse University College of Law
Jamelia N. Morgan, Professor of Law at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and Founding Faculty Director of the Center for Racial and Disability Justice
Britney Wilson, Associate Professor of Law, Director, Civil Rights and Disability Justice Clinic, New York Law School
Career Exploration Series: Navigating Legal Services Jobs with a Disability
On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, the National Disabled Legal Professionals Association hosted the second event of its Career Exploration Series event focused on navigating legal services jobs with a disability.
Moderator:
Marissa Ditkowsky, Executive Director of the National Disabled Legal Professionals Association
Panelists:
Virginia Knowlton Marcus, CEO, Disability Rights North Carolina
Liv Lu, Legal Assistance of Western New York, Regional Consumer Unit Staff Attorney
Florence Otaigbe, Immigration Attorney, Legal Services/Public Interest
Career Exploration Series Kick-Off: Navigating Federal Agency Jobs with a Disability
On Thursday, January 23, 2025, the National Disabled Legal Professionals Association hosted its Career Exploration Series kick-off event on navigating federal agency jobs with a disability. Our panelists have decades of experience across several government agencies and roles–including litigation, JD Advantage, and appointment roles.
Moderator:
Marissa Ditkowsky, Executive Director of the National Disabled Legal Professionals Association
Panelists:
Chai Feldblum, Vice Chair, AbilityOne Commission and former EEOC Commissioner
Anupa Iyer Geevarghese, Former Deputy Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, U.S. Department of Labor
Karla Gilbride, General Counsel, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Qudsiya Naqui, Senior Counsel, Office for Access to Justice, U.S. Department of Justice
Webinar: Navigating Bar Accommodations
Check out our webinar on navigating the Bar accommodations process co-hosted by NDLPA, NDLSA, and Brown Goldstein & Levy.
Learn from disabled test takers and the experienced attorneys at Brown Goldstein & Levy about Bar exam accommodation processes. Learn more about your rights, state law examiners’ responsibilities, and tips and tricks on how to request accommodations and appeal decisions.
Panelists:
Neel Lalchandani, Brown Goldstein & Levy
Neel Lalchandani represents individuals, nonprofits, and companies in a diverse array of civil rights and commercial matters. Neel has helped secure several of the largest payments in Maryland history for victims of police misconduct, including over $15 million in state compensation on behalf of innocent men imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. Neel has experience resolving cases involving discrimination and retaliation, reasonable accommodations, and disability discrimination. Read Neel’s profile here.
Jamie Strawbridge, Brown Goldstein & Levy
Jamie Strawbridge joined Brown Goldstein & Levy in February 2020. His practice includes cases involving civil rights, disability rights, housing discrimination, and commercial litigation. Jamie has represented individuals and companies in cases involving discrimination, harassment, police misconduct, contractual disputes, and products liability claims.
Rachel Laing
Rachel (they/them) is a Staff Attorney at the Oregon Law Center’s Hillsboro Regional Office, where they advocate for low-income individuals across five counties in northwest Oregon. Rachel specializes in housing discrimination, public benefits preservation, and education law. They also represent survivors of domestic violence in contested restraining order hearings, immigrants in obtaining predicate orders needed to apply for SIJS, and tenants in eviction proceedings. Rachel frequently provides legal education presentations to community partners, regularly staffs OLC’s legal clinics on the Oregon coast, and staffs a statewide Public Benefits legal advice hotline. They took the New York bar exam in 2020 with their requested accommodations, after successfully requesting reconsideration of their initially denied request for accommodations. In their free time, Rachel rows on their rowing machine, reads romance novels, and serves as the Grievance Chair of their union. They often bring their dog, Penny, to the office, enhancing the work environment with her presence.