Just a quick note about some upcoming CLE opportunities, not all of them accessibility oriented. If you are wondering about the photo at left, it’s for something a little different. I’ll be presenting a one-hour webinar “Write Your Brief Like a Country Song: The Universal Rules of Effective Communication” for the University of Texas CLE program on January 24. You can find all the details at this link: “Write your Brief Like a Country Song.” On February 11 at 1:00 p.m. ET I’ll be collaborating with William Goren (www.williamgoren.com) to present “The Internet and ADA Compliance” for the American Bar Association. You can find registration details at this link: “The Internet and ADA Compliance.” Last but not least, this Sunday morning, January 19, I’ll be presenting a three hour overview of the ADA and FHA accessibility rules and regulations to the Society of Exchange Counselors in Fort Worth. For more about the Society you can check out their website at “Society of Exchange Counselors“
ADA
Quick Hits – Making a list and checking it twice edition
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA, ADA - drive-by litigation, ADA - Hotels, ADA - serial litigation, ADA - Standing, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA Litigation Procedure, FHA, FHA design/build litigation, FHA Reasonable Accommodation, Internet Accessibility, Title II Tags: ADA defense, ADA Mootness, ADA Website Litigation, Bike share programs, Dana Bowman, Eric Calhoun, FHA Defense, Peter Strojnik, unruh act
Christmas is over with lumps of coal and sugar plums distributed in ways that often seem unrelated to who has been naughty or nice. Regular readers will see just how little has changed in the course of 2019 despite some important defense victories in the Sixth and Eight Circuits. With most ADA litigation centered in New York, California and Florida the serial litigation business will almost certainly continue to thrive in 2020.
Personal jurisdiction over website owners
It’s all about the SEO – Hunt Interviewed by thewirecutter.com
By Richard Hunt in ADA Tags: Accessible Trashcans, Accessible Waste Recepticles, ADA defense
Once upon a time lawyers marketed their services by sitting in private clubs drinking martinis. These days a more public approach is required, so I’m letting my subscribers know I was interviewed earlier this week by thewirecutter.com, a New York Times publication that reviews all kinds of products. I was asked about handicap accessible trashcans, a subject that I’ve never seen a lawsuit about. If you’re interested I’m sure the interview will be online soon. For what it is worth the arguments for requiring accessible trashcans under Titles II and III of the ADA are pretty weak, but if you doesn’t want paper towels on the floor in the public restrooms they would seem to be a good idea.
ADA and FHA Quick Hits – Day that will live in infamy edition
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA - drive-by litigation, ADA - Hotels, ADA - serial litigation, ADA - Standing, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA Theaters, ADA Web Access Tags: ADA arbitration, ADA defense, ADA Title II, ADA website, Bird scooters, electric scooters, FHA Defense, Strojnik, uber
Before delving into the fascinating details of ADA and FHA legal developments it doesn’t hurt to remember that in the larger scheme of things the day-to-day problems caused by flaws in the ADA and FHA are not as earth shattering as we like to imagine.
Cities may be responsible for the carelessness of the public
More lawyers behaving badly – ADA litigation abuse
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA - drive-by litigation, ADA - serial litigation Tags: ADA abuse, ADA defense, ADA fraud, Department of Justice, Finkelstein
Just a brief note about another alleged abuse of the ADA. According to a press release from the Department of Justice an attorney living in Florida filed hundreds of lawsuits naming as plaintiff individuals whose identities he stole. You can read the press release at this link. If you take the nearly 1000 cases filed by Mr. Finkelstein and add them to the lawsuits filed by Oscar Rosales, Peter Strojnik Sr., and Scott Dinan it starts to become clear that a significant percentage of ADA Title III lawsuits are filed solely to enrich a lawyer and often without any substantive merit. While some commentators say the ADA needs to be scrapped, the real solution is simply to provide a procedure for early dismissal with minimum expenditure of defense attorneys’ fees. Some courts have instituted mandatory mediation programs with this goal, but in many cases the cost of mediation alone makes defense impractical. The real solution is simply a heightened standard for standing that requires plaintiffs to have suffered a real injury and a heightened standard for pleading that requires plaintiffs to identify specifically the ADA violations they claim to have encountered. With that and a program of referring every Title III complaint to a magistrate judge for examination (similar to the way most courts handle pro se complaints) abusive lawsuits could be substantially reduced. The goal is not to make it impossible for plaintiffs to file ADA lawsuits, but rather to limit such lawsuits to those who have suffered a real injury.