Through the Most Challenging Cases, She’s by Your Side Madison Is There for You
A valuable member of our legal team, Madison goes wherever she’s needed for our clients. In addition to working with Britney and Anthony with Social Security and VA cases, she’s been a huge asset for her work on mass tort cases that involve trips around the country to
be by a client’s side. Throughout the year, she finds herself flying to meet clients and support them through these tough cases. “Disability law is about helping those who’ve been injured,” Madison says. “It’s about being there for them.” It’s no wonder Madison is so passionate about the law — legal DNA runs in her family. “My grandfather went to South Texas College of Law, and my mom has been a paralegal here at Marc Whitehead & Associates for over 23 years. I grew up around the firm. I saw what they did, and I knew I was going to go to law school at some point,” Madison explains. While working as a law clerk at our firm during law school, Madison realized she was passionate about disability law — not in spite of the emotional aspect of the cases, but because of it. “You can’t just bury yourself in an office here. You interact with clients and accept the emotional side. It’s what comes along with severe injuries. You’re taking on responsibility for guiding them through their case. It’s not like being a contract attorney and being detached,” Madison says. Especially when it comes to cases involving defective pharmaceutical devices, like transvaginal mesh, Madison understands the sensitivity and the pain that clients may be experiencing while they wait to have their case tried. “There’s a level of embarrassment because of the nature of these injuries,” Madison says. “These poor clients; sometimes their families don’t even know what’s going on. People, and especially women, tend to hide their suffering. They feel like they have to grin and bear it.” To decompress after intense cases like these, Madison turns to her running shoes. “I’ve always been a runner. Running is a big relief for me. My mind goes off in different places when I’m running — it’s free to wander.” Madison played soccer growing up and turned to running when, she says jokingly, she got too old for contact sports. “My dad has always been a big marathoner and got me into it.” We’re grateful to have a knowledgeable and compassionate attorney like Madison on our side, and we know you’ll be glad to have her on yours, too.
Aimee Mullins: Athlete, Speaker, Model, and Amputee Many people have to realize that the word “disability” it isn’t as black and white as it appears. Disability, as defined in 1980s, is parallel with words such as crippled, wrecked, senile, and decrepit. However, this outdated definition holds no water to people described as “disabled,” something Aimee Mullins feels strongly about. As an amputee, Mullins disagrees with the definition mentioned above. This definition was in circulation around the time when she entered primary school. Mullins explains, “I mean, from this entry, it would seem that I was born into a word that perceived someone like me to have nothing positive whatsoever going for them, when in fact, today I’m celebrated for the opportunities and adventures my life has procured.” Mullins was born without fibula bones in either of her legs, but that didn’t stop her. From learning to walk and, later, to run on prosthetic legs, she has competed at the national and international level as a champion sprinter — setting world records in 1996 at the Paralympics in Atlanta. Mullins strives to shift the way the public views disabled people. For her, it boils down to what the words mean and how that affects the people who are called these names. “It’s not just about the words.” Truly, the words themselves are harmless. However, once meaning is attached to a word, it shifts how the person sees the word and who the word is describing. “It’s what we believe about people when we name them with these words,” Mullins states. “It’s about the values behind the words and how we construct those values.” Being disabled in no way represents someone’s worth as a person, as the old definition may have many believing. Mullins is only one of many people who contradict the obsolete definition. Shifting how society views the meaning of a word can take time, but it is possible. Humans are the best of all species at adapting and evolving to the world as it changes. As people progress, as technologies enhance, and as understanding spreads, words and their meanings can change. Redefining disability has taken time, but it’s people like Aimee Mullins who are taking the lead in changing how the world views people labeled as disabled.
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