Since 1992, Lainey Feingold has represented persons with disabilities under federal and state law, primarily in matters seeking class-wide relief. Along with co-counsel, she has developed “Structured Negotiations,” an alternative to litigation emphasizing collaboration and focusing on solution. Using this method, she has negotiated 30 settlement agreements with some of the largest institutions in the United States, including American Express, Bank of America, Wal-Mart, and Wells Fargo Bank.
Lainey has long represented the blind community nationally in efforts to obtain Talking ATMs, accessible websites, tactile point of sale devices, accessible (audible) pedestrian signals, and alternative formats including Braille and Large Print. She has also resolved numerous other cases on behalf of persons with disabilities, including national class actions against Shell and Chevron resulting in ADA implementation at over 5,000 service stations across the country. In 2000, Lainey was selected as a California Lawyer of the Year.
On this About Page you can read about Lainey’s Co-Counsel, her speaking engagements, press coverage of her work, and honors and awards.
Co-Counsel
Lainey’s principle co-counsel in her work is Linda Dardarian of the Oakland, California civil rights firm Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian. Linda has played a critical role in developing Structured Negotiations as an advocacy and dispute resolution method and in effectively implementing it in the vast majority of the cases described on this site.
Lainey has also been privileged to work with attorneys who are part of the National Disability Rights Network. Stan Eichner, formerly Executive Director of the Disability Law Center in Boston, Massachusetts, was an invaluable co-counsel in the Structured Negotiations with Fleet Bank, Sovereign Bank, and Citizens Bank. Amy Peterson, of Equip for Equality in Chicago, Illinois, took the laboring oar on the Structured Negotiations with LaSalle Bank.
If you are a lawyer with an issue you think might be suitable for Structured Negotiations and are interested in discussing a possible co-counsel arrangement, please contact Lainey.
Speaking Engagements
Lainey is a frequent speaker at disability rights and accessible technology conferences. Read about her recent and scheduled speaking engagements on page 2 of this about page. If you are interested in inviting Lainey to speak about Structured Negotiations or accessible technology, please contact Lainey.
Publications and Press
Media coverage of Structured Negotiations can be found in chronological order in the Structured Negotiations Articles Category on this site.
Press releases about settlement agreements reached as a result of Structured Negotiations can be found in chronological order in the Settlement Agreement Press Releases Category on this site. An alphabetical list of all press releases is also available. These releases and the articles they generated appeared in national and local media across the United States.
Honors and Awards
Lainey has received the following honors from the blind community for her Structured Negotiations work:
- Access Award from the American Foundation for the Blind (2008)
- Special Achievement Award from the American Council of the Blind (2007)
- Special Advocacy Award from the California Council of the Blind (2000)
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