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Disability Support Services

Disability Support

The George Washington University Law School supports equal access to education for law students with disabilities in collaboration with the George Washington University Disability Support Services Office (DSS). The law school and DSS have a bifurcated system to address your requests for accommodation. Reasonable accommodations are defined as those that are consistent with the fundamental nature of the law school’s program of legal education that can be provided without undue financial or administrative burden, and that can be provided while maintaining academic standards.  Whether or not a proposed accommodation meets these requirements shall be within the discretion of the law school.  If you wish to request an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability, you must first contact the Disability Support Services Office, located in Rome Hall, Suite 102 to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information, you may call 202.994.8250, e-mail general inquiries to [email protected], or visit here. 

The policy is to provide reasonable accommodation to students with documented permanent and temporary disabilities.  Law students with conditions not necessarily recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act  (ADA) as “disabilities,” including pregnancy, may request support.  The GW Title IX Office provides resources and support for pregnant and parenting students. For more information, please see the Title IX Office website or contact them at [email protected].

There is a three-step process for registering with DSS:

  1. Complete a registration form. 
  2. Document your disability. After you have submitted documentation, DSS will review, and should you be eligible to register for accommodations, DSS will send a memo outlining any suggested accommodation to the law school Dean of Students Office. 
  3. Contact the Dean of Students Office. Once a student is determined eligible the student should meet with a member of our office to discuss the implementation of accommodations.

The process for a law student to register for accommodation differs greatly from the University’s undergraduate process due to grading exams anonymously.  If you were an undergrad at GW, please follow the instructions for law students. Do not present a law professor with a letter of eligibility from DSS.

DSS accepts and reviews registrations, requests for accommodation, and supporting documentation at any time of the year. However, to ensure that sufficient time is provided for DSS to complete its review process and for the law school to implement the approved accommodations, students should submit requests and supporting documentation for accommodations to DSS, at least three (3) weeks before they need the accommodation to be implemented and at least four (4) weeks for exam-related accommodations.

The University will make every effort to complete its review of requests for accommodations that are submitted outside of these time frames. However, if the request and supporting documentation are submitted outside these time frames, it cannot guarantee that the review will be completed or that the approved accommodation can be implemented in time for class or an upcoming exam. Students should plan accordingly and submit their requests and documentation as early as possible.

Requesting Documentation/Verification of Accommodations for MPRE or Bar Exam

The University's Disability Support Office serves as the repository of all documentation reviewed to determine academic accommodations during your time at the Law School. Students seeking testing accommodations during the Bar Exam or MPRE should review this Disability Support Services webpage.

Recommended Disability Support Resources

Internal Resources

External Resources