What is the Difference Between ADA Litigation in Civil Courts vs Federal Courts

I was talking with B.J. yesterday and he is a wheelchair advocate expressing some frustration in getting building owners to get their buildings into ADA compliance even though the State Attorney General is very supportive.  This subject matter comes up time and time again and is very frustrating.  “Let's cut to the chase.”   Civil courts are political, are very slow and any decision is applicable to civil law and is also only applicable to that case.   As a result, ACCESS does no work in civil courts.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is Federal Civil Rights Law.  Here wheelchair users have direct access to Federal Courts at no cost to them.  That means that the ADA law requires the building owners to pay all costs including attorneys’ fees and costs.  The ACCESS work products for the attorney are costs that include:

1.                   Detailed ADA audit of the building and site

2.                   Consulting on ADA solutions of items identified in the ADA audit as being ADA non-compliant with the building owners and his architectural/engineering firm hired to do the ADA retrofit permit drawings

3.                   ADA Plan check of the ADA retrofit permit drawings

4.                   Consulting with ADA contractor pricing ADA retrofit permit drawings

5.                   Audit of the ADA retrofit construction and if ADA compliant, the issuing of a building certificate of ADA compliance

All federal court cases are on a fast track that does not allow attorneys the delay tactics.  Decisions by a federal judge is applicable throughout the United States.  In the case of Wheelchair Watchdog cases, the judge will order the building owner when to start the ADA retrofit and when to finish.

The ACCESS "Wheelchair Watchdog" program is setup as a self help program to assist wheelchair users in getting building ADA compliant. 

The ACCESS motto is, working together we can get buildings ADA compliant one building at a time.

ACCESS needs and wants wheelchair users to join our "Wheelchair Watchdog" program.  We want to hear from you!

The ACCESS target is to be filing 100 ADA non-compliant cases a week by the end of 2011.