Bill Scott

This past month, we received the sad news that Bill Scott had passed away. Bill was a great friend to lawyers, and he cemented it in the pages of Arizona Attorney Magazine.

Way back in December 2002, we published a roundtable of attorneys and judges on the topic of lawyers with disabilities. The roundtable transcript and accompanying photos were a great hit.

Funny thing was, I had always moderated any panel discussions and roundtables we sponsored. That, and unlimited Post-It Notes, are a few of the greatest benefits of the editor job. But in the months leading up to the roundtable, someone introduced me to Bill, who ran a business called Abilities Unlimited.

At first, I thought Bill would make a wonderful panelist. But as we talked more, I determined that he would make an even better moderator. Fortunately for me, he had made the same determination—weeks before I did.

Never enjoying the role of potted plant, I had some trepidation in turning over to a newcomer the reins of a roundtable that included a state Supreme Court Justice. But I needn’t have worried. Bill cajoled a wonderful conversation out of those assembled. Read the whole thing—“Ready, Willing and Able: Our Lawyers With Disabilities Roundtable”—here.

(Bill also contributed to the work of the State Bar of Arizona Committee on Persons with Disabilities in the Legal Profession.)

A very nice remembrance of Bill’s contributions can be found here in the Arizona Republic.

And here is a piece from the National Fire Prevention Association, to whose mission Bill contributed:

“Bill Scott, founder and president of Abilities Unlimited, Inc., and chair of NFPA’s Disabilities Access Review and Advisory Committee (DARAC) died on March 31, 2011. Bill, a nationally respected disability expert and advocate, also served on NFPA’s “Fire Safety for People with Disabilities Task Force” and contributed many hundreds of hours to committees, groups and organizations all in the interest of improving fire and life safety for people with disabilities. “Bill’s passion, quick wit, gentle demeanor, incredibly positive attitude, broad smile, and unfailing devotion to making life better for all people will be forever remembered by his friends and colleagues,” said NFPA President James Shannon.”

Farewell, Bill.