Nicholas D. Lawson, M.D., J.D., is a disability advocate and a person with a disability (dyslexia, ADHD, generalized anxiety disorder) who has lived experience of disability discrimination as a psychiatry resident through prohibited medical inquiries. Lawson currently serves as a Commissioner on the American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights. He is also a Georgetown Law Scholar with dozens of publications on ableism in the medical and legal professional workforce. His most recent publications include “‘To Be a Good Lawyer, One Has to Be a Healthy Lawyer’: Lawyer Well-Being, Discrimination, and Discretionary Systems of Discipline” in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and “Disability Affirmative Action Requirements for the U.S. HHS and Academic Medical Centers Under the Rehabilitation Act,” forthcoming in Hastings Center Report.

Dr. Lawson is a critic of physician and lawyer well-being (aka wellness) movements and associated policies that encourage peer reporting of workers with suspected mental health conditions. Lawson argues that these policies are counterproductive, may act as a subterfuge for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and often employ ableist rhetoric. He believes professional employers should instead prioritize compliance with the ADA, disability affirmative action requirements under the Rehabilitation Act, and other more meaningful disability diversity and inclusion efforts.

Lawson’s current research largely concerns Sections 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and employment of persons with targeted disabilities. Other projects include stigma-reduction; collaborations between disability, LGBTQ+, racial/ethnic, and women’s rights advocates on DEI and policy priorities; and fat rights.