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Re: Seeking a New York based lawyer with ADA expertise

for

From: Steve Green
Date: Feb 24, 2018 5:48AM

That's what they brought us in to do - we have not worked with them previously so there's quite a bit to do. In fact that's how I will be spending my entire weekend.

Steve


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of <EMAIL REMOVED>
Sent: 23 February 2018 23:03
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List' < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Seeking a New York based lawyer with ADA expertise

Whichever route your client takes, advise them to correct the website immediately.
— — —
Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | <EMAIL REMOVED> — — —
PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes — — —


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Steve Green
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2018 5:06 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Seeking a New York based lawyer with ADA expertise

Our client owns a handful of small hotels, mostly in the UK, but one is in New York and the case is about the website for this one, so my understanding is that there are possible grounds for the class action. We have been following US ADA cases for many years and it seems to be a complete lottery - judgements go opposite ways on identical facts depending on where the cases are heard. The fact is that our client has to defend it otherwise the plaintiff wins by default.

Thanks for the recommendation of the American Bar Association - I'll take a look at that.

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of <EMAIL REMOVED>
Sent: 23 February 2018 20:31
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List' < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Seeking a New York based lawyer with ADA expertise

FYI, there is nothing in our US Sec. 508 regulation that requires information from foreign-based entities to be accessible.

The law specifically applies only to US federal government ICT (information communication technology, under which a website and all of its content, including a/v, PDFs, social media, etc.). All ICT "Procured" by the federal government and used by the federal government must be accessible, regardless of where the "product" originates.

However, there's room for interpretation by courts and federal agencies that if an entity (organization, academic institution, contractor) receives federal grant money or other federal funding, then the material created through those monies must meet Sec. 508 accessibility requirements.

Commercial websites are not yet required to be accessible, although last year's Winn-Dixie settlement has set a court precedent that is supposedly fueling these lawsuits.

Bottom line: it's murky. And with this type of lawsuit, only the lawyers get paid.

Lainey Feingold would be my first recommendation. But also look at the American Bar Association's website for others who specialize in the area. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/bar_services/publications/bar_leader/2017-18/january-february/accessibility-matters-experts-and-lawyers-with-disabilities-help-bars-find-eliminate-barriers.html

— — —
Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | <EMAIL REMOVED> — — —
PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes — — —


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Steve Green
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2018 2:43 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [WebAIM] Seeking a New York based lawyer with ADA expertise

I hope this isn't off topic. One of our clients has received a class action summons claiming one of their US websites is in violation of ADA. It's from an ambulance-chasing scumbag who started 15 similar class actions in January 2018. He has gone for smallish organizations who have enough money to be worth suing but are too small to put up much of a fight.

Our client is actually a UK company that doesn't have any legal representation in the US, and they are looking for a New York based lawyer with ADA expertise to advise and represent them. Can anyone make any recommendations? My first thought was to contact Lainey Feingold (who is in California but probably knows everyone in the field) but I have not heard back from her.

Regards,
Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd
68-72 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4N 4SJ
020 3002 4176 (direct)
0800 612 2780 (switchboard)
07957 246 276 (mobile)
020 7692 5517 (fax)
Skype: testpartners
<EMAIL REMOVED>
www.testpartners.co.uk

Connect to me on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevegreen2