Mich. suit targets blind bias on law school exam

Detroit attorney John Scott recalls the time he applied for a job, only to be told by the prospective employer that he got an interview because the man was curious about how Scott looked.

Another time, the manager interviewing him looked at Scott and turned him down on the spot, saying, “I don’t think so.”

But in the decades since, prospects have changed for Scott, 69, who is blind. Technology and social attitudes have helped make it easier for attorneys and jurists who can’t see.

But like others in his shoes, Scott said some discrimination persists, mentioning a case he handled last year.

“For the first time, a client made an issue about my blindness,” Scott said. “He made a comment about getting a ‘real lawyer.’ ”

Those in the legal and blind communities are closely following a federal lawsuit that alleges discrimination against blind applicants for the Law School Admissions Test.

The lawsuit was filed against the Law School Admission Council Inc. in 2011 by a Southfield law firm representing a West Bloomfield man, Angelo Binno. He is suing because a section on the test, called logic drawing, requires applicants to draw. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Sean Cox.

“We need more disabled individuals to lend credence to the profession of law,” said Binno, who is blind. “We are all fighting for a whole generation of blind lawyers.”

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein, who also is blind, said the Binno case is being closely followed by lawyers, judges and others across the country. Bernstein represented Binno before he was elected to the state’s highest court in 2014.

Bernstein said “the challenge to blind lawyers is in fact the LSAT.” The exam has been part of the admissions process for law schools for more than four decades.

“The LSAT is without question the greatest detriment for blind people to practice law,” Bernstein said. He said the test is “inherently flawed” and creates visual biases against blind people who want to become lawyers.

Scott has been legally blind since ninth grade. He said his vision problems began when he was 9, and he lost all of his sight at age 19 after having eye surgery.

“They did everything they could to save my vision,” says Scott, a Detroit resident. After the surgery, he said he realized he was losing all of his vision when he looked at a bowl of strawberries and thought they were mushrooms.

Raised in Metro Detroit, Scott attended Western Michigan University for his undergraduate degree and Wayne State University for law school. Scott said he decided to become an attorney at the urging of a good friend who also became a lawyer.

He is president of the Detroit chapter of the National Federation for the Blind. He also is a member of the National Blind Lawyers Association, which will meet in New Orleans in July for a convention of its estimated 200 members.

Scott said he was undeterred by his lack of sight. His reasoning: “When I became blind, I became focused.”

Using tape recorders and “readers” — other students who read back lecture notes to him — Scott graduated from law school and set about practicing law.

“Years before the (Americans With Disabilities Act) you had to pay for readers out of your own pocket,” Scott said.

Most of Scott’s career was spent with the city of Detroit’s legal department. He helped organize the city’s first drug court.

Scott retired from the city a decade ago and is now in private practice.

He said he mostly takes on cases in Wayne County Juvenile Court and those dealing with Social Security. His wife of 45 years, Sylvia, accompanies him to court and helps with his caseload.

Scott’s job is made easier with the help of a streaming service called JAWS, which translates documents into audio files.

“(It) will read documents for me so I get a chance to read all of the (legal) documents,” he said. “I’m not restricted by time.”

Scott uses a Braille writer and a special stylus to take notes in court. He’s also learning more about other computer programs that can assist him.

Scott gets high marks from others in the legal profession.

Attorney Frederick Smith also practices in juvenile court and has been in the same courtroom with Scott.

“I’m impressed with what he does without sight what many lawyers with sight have a hard time doing,” he said.

Smith says Scott can “articulate with his mind and his hearing” the needs of his clients and is “able to practice in a succinct and professional manner” by listening and always being prepared for cases.

For retired Wayne County Circuit Judge Paul Teranes, who also is blind, things have improved but employment continues to be a hurdle.

“You’ve got to find someone who is willing to give you a chance,” said the 81-year-old. “Ultimately it comes down to that one person who says, ‘I’ll give you a chance.’ ”

Teranes, a 1961 University of Michigan law school graduate, still follows cases like the Binno lawsuit and gives counsel and guidance to fledgling attorneys and law school students who are blind.

“There are so many areas of the law, and you want to seek out the one where you are least handicapped in,” said Teranes, who still lives in Metro Detroit. He said most blind lawyers seek fields of law where they have more direct contact with others rather than in research law.

Southfield-based attorney Jason Turkish, who is representing Binno, said despite the lawsuit over the law school test, opportunities exist for lawyers who are blind.

“There’s never been a better time to practice law for blind attorneys,” Turkish said.

Turkish says he hopes he prevails in the LSAT case because the outcome could have major impact on blind citizens who choose law as a career.

“This case is about basic fundamental fairness,” he said. “When basic fundamental fairness crosses over into our judiciary, you’ve got to fight for it.”

bwilliams@detroitnews.com

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