A partially blind UCLA School of Law graduate will receive the accommodations she needs to take the state bar exam later this month after winning a lawsuit filed against the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
Stephanie Enyart, 32, filed suit in December against the conference on allegations that the organization was not providing reasonable accommodations for her disability in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The conference could not be reached for comment.
San Francisco Court Judge Charles Breyer issued a written ruling on Nov. 4 granting a preliminary injunction that allows Enyart her request.
Enyart requested she take the exam using computer software she had used during her time as a law student at UCLA, and during her stay as a disability rights law clerk in Berkeley. The combination of software includes ZoomText, for screen magnification, and JAWS, a screen reading program.
The conference initially denied the request when Enyart filed to take the July exam, instead offering her a closed circuit television to zoom into text and a human reader.
Enyart said the accommodations that were offered would put her at a disadvantage on the test because of the new and unfamiliar environment.
During the trial, the conference argued that the requested accommodations would put the security of the test at stake because Enyart would be able to potentially copy the questions onto her hard drive, according to the written statement issued by the court.
Breyer said he believed that if the conference provided the computer loaded with the software, the security of the testing materials would not be compromised.
Karla Gilbride, one of the prosecuting attorneys on the case, expressed hope that a message would be sent to other testing agencies when dealing with accommodations for the disabled.
“We hope that for other applicants and other testing agencies will look at this and realize that it makes sense, and that it is better to deal with students on the front end than with lawyers and lawsuits on the back end,” Gilbride said.
UCLA School of Law Professor Jyoti Nanda said the court’s quick decision was proof that this case had a common sense answer and will force the conference to think about the future.
“The (National Conference of Bar Examiners) will be forced to re-examine their policies and to figure out what to do to prevent this in the future,” Nanda said.
Enyart said acting as a plaintiff in the case was a valuable experience that will be useful to employ in her career as an attorney.
With the case behind her, Enyart said her plan now is to pass the bar and become officially certified as a lawyer, then move down to Los Angeles to fight for the legal rights of those who are disabled and homeless.