LOS ANGELES - Longtime public interest attorney Paula Pearlman has been named executive director of the Los Angeles-based Disability Rights Legal Center.
Pearlman, who has acted as interim director since former Executive Director Eve Hill left that post to oversee the national Office of Disability Rights in Washington, D.C., has also served as deputy director and director of litigation at the center.
"Paula has a vision as to where we ought to be going," said board member and Munger, Tolles & Olson partner Charles Siegal. "She's a very accomplished lawyer in the area of disability rights and she's done a lot of litigation in that area at the center."
Pearlman's willingness to litigate makes her a powerful advocate for people with disabilities in Southern California.
"I come from a long line of social workers, but I am not a social worker," Pearlman said. "I believe we use law as a tool for social justice and to ensure systems are doing what they're required to do under the law. And that means using every tool available: community advocacy, education and also litigation."
But Pearlman said the center remains involved in a case long after the litigation ends.
"We're there for the long run," she said. "We'll bring a case and we'll enforce our judgement. We want to ensure things change systemically."
The center is currently monitoring requirements spelled out in the settlement of a 2006 case that forced San Bernardino County to provide educational services to children in custody with special education needs and mental disabilities. Pearlman was the lead attorney in the case.
She also is litigating a statewide class action against the California Department of Education for its failure to provide transitional services to high school students with special needs looking to move on to college or vocational programs.
"The passion, intelligence and sheer exuberance Paula brings to the work of the Disability Rights Legal Center has been an inspiration to me personally for many years," said board member and Fox Entertainment Group attorney Ann Calfas. "Paula is a tireless and incredibly effective advocate."
During her 20 years in public interest law, Pearlman gained experience in class actions, legislative advocacy, sex discrimination and harassment, immigration law and disability rights.
Before coming to the Disability Rights Legal Center, Pearlman was supervising attorney for the California Women's Law Center. She also worked for the civil rights firm Hadsell & Stormer, the National Immigration Law Center and Neighborhood Legal Services of Southern California.
Pearlman said the center will continue advocating for people with disabilities facing discrimination and ensuring people with mental and physical disabilities are integrated into communities and living as independently as possible.
"We're moving from a civil rights model to a diversity model that says all of us benefit from being in a community of people who are different from us," she said.
"There's still so much unconscious bias against people with disabilities and misunderstanding about what it takes to provide reasonable accommodations for them. I really believe we can do better."