The Most Important Cases Since the ADA Was Passed 25 Years Ago

Barry Taylor

Vice President of Civil Rights and Systemic Litigation

Barry Taylor is the Vice President for Civil Rights and Systemic Litigation at Equip for Equality, where has worked since 1996. At Equip for Equality, he has overseen many individual and systemic disability discrimination cases including successful federal ADA suits against the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Chicago Police Department, and the Chicago Transit Authority. He is currently co-counsel in five ADA class actions, including lead counsel in Ligas v. Hamos, a class action on behalf of people with developmental disabilities who are seeking community services. Barry has given numerous presentations on the ADA across the country to people with disabilities, attorneys, employers, businesses, service providers and advocacy organizations.

Barry has served as the Chairperson of the Disability Rights Consortium, Chairperson of Season of Concern, Chairperson of the Legal Committee for the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, Chairperson of the Chicago Bar Association’s Legal Aid Committee, Chairperson of the Chicago Bar Association’s Mental Health and Disability Law Committee, Co-Chairperson of the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Pro Bono Week and Chairperson of the Regional Transit Authority’s ADA Advisory Committee. He has been an Adjunct Professor at John Marshall Law School, and in 2001, Chicago Lawyer Magazine named him one of “40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch.” Recently, he was appointed to serve on Senator Dick Durbin’s Bipartisan Screening Committee for Federal Judges in the Northern District of Illinois.

Prior to coming to Equip for Equality, Barry was the AIDS Project Attorney in the Midwest Regional Office of Lambda Legal working to advance the civil rights of people living with HIV/ AIDS. His caseload included a successful challenge to discriminatory inquiries by the Chicago Public Schools on teacher applications.

From 1988 - 1993, Barry was a litigation associate at the Chicago law firm of Peterson & Ross. He is a 1988 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, where he also received his undergraduate degree in 1985.

Rachel M. Weisberg

Staff Attorney, Equip For Equality

Rachel Weisberg is a Staff Attorney at Equip for Equality where she litigates individual and systemic disability discrimination cases under Titles I, II and III of the ADA. Rachel also manages the Illinois ADA Project which provides ADA information and trainings to businesses, judges, attorneys, service providers, people with disabilities, government agencies, and other organizations.

Prior to Equip for Equality, Rachel worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau and Disability Rights Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, a labor and employment associate at Sidley Austin LLP, and a law clerk for Chief Judge James G. Carr in the Northern District of Ohio. Before law school, Rachel worked as an ADA technical assistance specialist at the Mid-Atlantic ADA Center, and during law school interned with the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. She is a 2008 graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, and a 2003 graduate of the University of Michigan.