Access the Bar: Who We Are

Access the Bar was created, and is operated, by law students/Bar Exam candidates who were denied accommodations, and had to resort to litigation. These individuals were infuriated by the fact that their accommodations were granted as the result of initiating or threatening litigation, and firmly believe that no individual should have to go to the lengths that they did in order to acquire the accommodations that they need.

What We Do

Access the Bar has one mission: to help disabled people become attorneys, and take action against policies that inhibit them from doing so.

We seek to accomplish this mission by providing individuals with the resources necessary to take action to prevent state boards of law examiners, the National Conference of Bar Examiners, and law schools from arbitrarily denying accommodations to disabled bar candidates and law students who need them.

With the use of this website’s submission form, information may be gathered that may reveal widespread patterns and practices of accommodation denials, strengthening cases against such entities.

Each individual denial on its own appears to be an isolated incident — rather than just one component of the broader practice of discrimination that it truly is. By sharing our stories and collaborating, disabled individuals who have been denied accommodations will be able to expose these patterns, and bring the extent of the issue to light.