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The firm likely has a duty to reasonably accommodate the condition. There are several resources out there on the condition and the types of accommodations that help alleviate the symptoms of the condition (job accommodation network comes to mind). Additionally, I would encourage her to speak with her doctor and specialist and potentially even a behavioralist on how to handle her daily tasks as a litigator. Then I would have her go back with a list of those things to HR or whomever is coordinating with her on the fanny pack situation to have an open dialogue about what could help her continue to work effectively as a litigator. This is going to require a lot of trial and error, but if she is making it as a litigator, she has all the tools to fit this into her routine. I’m also sorry to hear that your wife is going through this and will keep your family in my thoughts.
How awful for your wife — I’m so sorry. Not 100% on point but when I clerked, we encountered a few attorneys with speech or hearing disabilities. My judge (and others) always made an effort to accommodate those attorneys and later commented that one of those attorneys—who was frequently in his courtroom—was one of the best young litigators he ever saw. Which is just to say—don’t lose hope if this is your dream.
Not vocal paralysis, but I developed a sever block stutter out of the blue. Absolutely debilitating. I feel for your wife. I’ve improved dramatically through speech therapy and landed in a transactional practice I really love with clients who aren’t bothered by an occasional hang up in my cadence.
C1 - I’m still not sure what caused it. I don’t remember the first time it happened, but it started sometime my junior year of college and really got bad my senior year. I started experiencing blocks mostly when introducing myself to people and when starting new sentences. It was scary at first because I didn’t understand.
It really affected my self-esteem and outgoingness. And I tried dealing with it on my own for too long and developed some bad speaking habits trying to avoid certain sounds/words I knew I struggled with. It was exhausting. I started seeing a speech therapist in law school and she helped me with breathing techniques like easy onset and the like.
I still struggle occasionally (like earlier this week when I randomly struggled to introduce myself on a conference call for about 15-20 secs) but I’m doing so much better than just a few years ago.
Has any attorney here worked through vocal paralysis before? Any litigators? She’s devastated and so far her firms best idea is to give her a fanny pack attached to a speaker and mic for court. Would love to hear any thoughts or suggestions from this group!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and concern P1. You also brought up the subconscious effect she’s worried about - not only from the court but from OC during pre-lit.