On Wednesday, July 5, 2023 in Houston, TX, Inclusivity Consulting co-leader Eve Hill spoke at the 2023 National Federation of the Blind Convention, which is the largest gathering of blind people in the world and also known as the premier event for training, support, and information for the blind.
Eve Hill, who currently serves as National Federation of the Blind’s General Counsel, was personally asked by NFB President Mark Riccobono to give a speech.
Eve shared about her experiences with disability in her own life, and why she’d be a disability rights lawyer even if she didn’t have any personal experience with disability in a speech titled “Securing Equal Protection Under the Law: The Essential Role of the Organized Blind Movement.”
“I’m trying to spend my time on this planet trying to fix some of the unfairness in the world. And that’s why I’m a disability rights lawyer and why I’m still a disability rights lawyer after 29 years of practice. And that’s why the National Federation of the Blind is the best partner imaginable in that effort,” Eve said in her opening remarks.
Eve also spoke on the strides the NFB has made in taking on huge cases in the digital space to fight for accessibility for the blind, stating that without the NFB, the internet and other digital technologies would be completely inaccessible to this day.
Other topics covered in Eve’s speech included the NFB’s tenacious battle against discrimination in education and the organization’s ongoing fight for employment rights for individuals with disabilities.
Eve commended her BGL colleagues Jessie Weber, Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, and Andy Freeman – as well as founding partner, “the great Dan Goldstein” – in her speech, calling it an “amazing privilege” to work with them.
In her closing statements, Eve said: “The NFB is bold. The organized blind movement is not going to wait around for someone else to take on its battles. The blind stand up for themselves and for each other.”
In 1986, BGL Founding Partner Dan Goldstein first took on the role of the organization’s counsel for the NFB, holding the position until his retirement in 2017, which is when he handed the torch to Eve. He was the first lawyer to successfully argue that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applied to the virtual realm.
Eve Hill is one of the nation’s leading civil rights lawyers, known especially for her work with clients with disabilities and LGBTQ+ clients. She has been recognized by Law360 as one of just 12 “Titans of the Plaintiffs’ Bar” for 2023, as well as by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2022 and 2023). Her wide-ranging experience complements Brown, Goldstein & Levy’s decades of dedication to high-impact disability rights cases and its advocacy on behalf of individuals with disabilities and their families. Eve also leads Inclusivity, BGL’s Strategic Consulting Group, which works with organizations to promote the education, engagement, and employment of people with disabilities. Learn more about Eve here. (Link opens new website)
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, DC. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.