Cohen Buchan Edwards LLP, your Richmond Law Firm, is taking steps to improve our service to our clients. Marla Gilsig, a Vancouver lawyer delivered a webinar on Communicating with People With Disabilties on October 25, 2011.
The lawyers at Cohen Buchan Edwards know that the legal system is complicated in the best of circumstances. CBE clients who are deaf, sight impaired or blind, have mobility or cognitive challenges must have unimpeded communication with lawyers and staff. The presentation encourages us to:
- ask our clients how we can best accommodate their needs
- ask if the preferred communication is written or verbal
- ensure that the engagement letter reflects the accommodation requests
- not rely on head nodding and smiling as confirmation or agreement
- speak clearly and respectfully
- provide a safe meeting room: acoustics, lighting, seating, sight lines
- reduce distracting noise
- make website and emails compatible for voice over information protocols “VoIP”
- request courts and administrative tribunals accommodate the participants
- provide real time transcribing and captioning
- not confuse cognitive or learning challenges with incapacity
- ask disability associations for education and sensitivity training
- appreciate that improving attitudes means reducing barriers to disabilities
- prefer professional assistive service providers for a client instead of family or friends
- maintain the paramountcy of lawyer-client confidentiality when dealing with 3rd party advisors.
We thank Marla Gilsig for her guidance on enabling us to ensure that Cohen Buchan Edwards LLP Richmond Law Firm provides our clients RESPECT AUTONOMY and INDEPENDENCE.
