ABA Lawsuit Follow Up

May 12, 2011

By JERRY WOLFFE
Of The Oakland Press

The desire of Angelo Binno to be a “lawyer as far back as I can remember” is going to change the future of who becomes an attorney in America when he achieves his dream.

And, it’s about time.

Attorney Richard Bernstein, who is blind, is believed to be the last law student who was admitted to a
law school without taking the Law School Admission Test in 1996.

At that time, Northwestern University Law School waived the requirement that Bernstein had to
take the LSAT because he was blind.

Bernstein, who has fought successfully to eliminate discrimination against the disabled in many areas of our society since he passed the bar exam, was admitted to Northwestern based on his grades, extracurricular activities and overall ability.

But after that, the American Bar Association threatened to withdraw accreditation of any law school that admitted a blind student without the student taking the LSAT.

The LSAT, which costs $139 to take, has a logic games section which requires those taking the exam to draw diagrams of seating charts and other things cognitively impossible to do without having sight.

“I’ve waited all these years for the perfect student to come along to challenge the LSAT requirement for blind applicants,” Bernstein said.

That “perfect candidate” is Angelo Binno, 28, of West Bloomfield.

Binno comes from a family of six children. His mother, Najat, died in 1999 at age 54 and his father, Sam, 69, is a retiree from the former auto parts supplier BASF.

Angelo Binno is indeed accomplished.

He graduated from West Bloomfield High School in June 2000 in three years. He also is a Wayne State University graduate who worked for two years for Homeland Security and was awarded a high security clearance. He has worked as a researcher in the field of law. Besides English, he speaks Arabic and Chaldean.

His parents were refugees from Iraq and instilled in him and his brothers and sisters the will to succeed.

“You don’t lose until you give up,” Binno said.

Binno has taken and failed the LSAT twice and has been denied admittance to the University of Detroit-Mercy Law School three times and the WSU Law School and Thomas Cooley Law School each once.

But he has not let his dream die.

He believes his lawsuit against the American Bar Association to be filed in federal court in late May to allow law schools to admit blind students without taking the LSAT will succeed.

“I don’t think the ABA has a defense to the LSAT because the entire test is visually discriminating,” he said.

A story written about his planned lawsuit against the ABA has been picked up from the Oakland Press website by many newspapers and legal publications, including USA Today, The Macomb Daily and the Daily Tribune of Royal Oak and the website of sharethis.com, Arabic publications,
timesofindia.indiatimes.com, aolnews.com, among others.

Binno has no doubt he will succeed once he gets into UD-Mercy, his target school.

“My father stands besides me 100 percent and will assist me in any way I need,” he said.

As Binno was discussing his case in Bernstein’s Farmington Hills office, his father sat in the room and a tear welled up in his eye as his son was told he will win his case and open the law school doors to other blind students who will want to become attorneys.

Of those who were denied admittance to law school because they were blind, Binno said: “My heart goes out to them. I’ve seen how door after door is slammed on you. I am hoping to prevail and have this rule about the LSAT for blind applicants revoked.”

Once he graduates, Binno vowed to work “to help oppressed people fight for equal rights in our society when I get a job as an attorney in the future.”

“I think we need more lawyers with disabilities because they understand the frustrations and hardships that the disabled go through. They would be especially passionate in fighting for civil rights and justice for individuals who have suffered discrimination,” he said.

Sometimes, an individual has to experience discrimination so he or she can let others know about an evil practice and change it.

No matter what Binno achieves in his legal career, he already has contributed much to the dignity of all of us by his never-say-die attitude and courage.