ADA Title II Compliance Attorney - Administrative Office Illinois Courts

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Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts
222 N. LaSalle St.
13 Floor
Chicago , IL 60601
United States

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Legal Advice, Technical Assistance, and Training

• Consistent with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.; the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794; the Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq.; and the Illinois Environmental Barriers Act, 410 ILCS 25/1 et seq., this position provides legal advice to AOIC leadership, circuit court judges, trial court administrators, court disability coordinators, circuit court clerks, reviewing court justices, reviewing court staff, and reviewing court clerks (hereinafter referred to as courts) on matters as they present in the course of litigation including but not limited to application of key statutes governing court accessibility for people with disabilities, guidance on determining who is a qualified person with a disability, reasonable modifications/accommodations, physical access to courthouses, and service animals for courthouse staff and court users including litigants and attorneys.
• Provide technical assistance to AOIC leadership and courts in complying with the Illinois Supreme Court Policy on People with Disabilities.
• Conduct the CDC training with the Illinois Attorney General’s office for Court Disability Coordinators as well as for the entire judicial branch and all Judicial Education target audiences, on the topics of disability access under the ADA and cultural responsiveness and best practices for helping people with different types of disabilities.

Reviewing Courts

• Support the Court Disability Coordinators for the six reviewing courts, including providing guidance on processing reasonable accommodation requests, grievances, and appeals from the public, communicating with reviewing court personnel when granting accommodation requests, with knowledge of and care to avoid ex parte communications or sharing confidential information.
• Support Court Disability Coordinators located in the circuit courts across Illinois to comply with the ADA including offering technical assistance related to Title II of the ADA, reasonable accommodation framework and questions, questions related to grievances and appeals, and the requirements of the Policy on Access for People with Disabilities.

Project Management within the AOIC

• Project manage the WCAG 2.1 AA web content compliance project for Illinoiscourts.gov and ongoing ADA compliance for web content.
• Serve as a resource to the Chief Legal Counsel to ensure all state vendor agreements for goods and services include enforce ability for third party vendors regarding accessibility.
• In consultation the Director of HR, field HR-related ADA questions/requests, build a more robust hiring pipeline that includes recruiting people with disabilities, and create a process for accommodation review.

ATJ Commission’s Court Disability Grant and Other Funding

• Administer the court disability grant, ensuring compliance with funding requirements and objectives, while proactively researching and pursuing additional grant and funding opportunities, including legislative appropriations and state-level initiatives.

Other Duties

• Provides staff support and serves as AOIC Representative to judicial branch committees, taskforces, boards and/or commissions.
• May direct and support assigned staff, providing guidance, feedback, and performance oversight, as appropriate.
• Conducts legal research and provides legal and practical counsel to judges, the AOIC, judicial branch agencies, judicial branch stakeholders, and court personnel throughout the state and other parties involved in the court system on non-case related judicial branch matters.
• Drafts, revises, or reviews Supreme Court rules, orders, and policies.
• Researches and drafts vote memoranda and narrative agenda items for the Administrative Director's Administrative Agenda to the Supreme Court.
• Attends and participates in trainings, meetings and conferences as required.
• Must maintain license to practice law in the State of Illinois in good standing for the duration of employment.
• Performs…